


Ground Control to Major Tom

by yourfavoritetsundre



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Black Paladin Lance (Voltron), Eventual Romance, Falling out, Gangs, Grief/Mourning, Guitarist Lance (Voltron), M/M, Making Up, Pining, Post-Canon, References to David Bowie, Road Trips, Romance, Slow Burn, Soul-Searching, Strippers & Strip Clubs, Weddings, hard pills to swallow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2019-09-23 07:35:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 45,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17076095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourfavoritetsundre/pseuds/yourfavoritetsundre
Summary: A year after Keith and Lance have a big falling out, Lance is...well, he's not missing. He's fine. He's just not telling anyone where he is. Keith decides maybe the best way to apologize for being an absolute monster is to track him down.Following Lance's path of self-discovery, Keith starts to remember all the things about Lance he had buried years before. Because of the war, because of the Blade, because of Allura. And he starts to realize that maybe he's to blame for more than he thought.Meanwhile, Curtis just wants to plan his quiznacking wedding.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, lots of warnings here. 
> 
> I do respect the writers and the choices they made with the show and honestly this is a kids show and NONE of us should care this much but...there's no way in hell loud, showboating, competitive Lance McClain would be happy just sitting on a farm for the rest of his life. No matter how much he grows up. And honestly, the boy deserves an apology from like...the universe. So here it is. 
> 
> A lot of this is going to be...difficult? Some of it's going to sound like I hate Allura and I need you to understand that I don't. I just disagree with Allurance (it was a rushed story line, and it shows) and I honestly feel that what we did see of their relationship in S8 proves me right. So when characters are looking back and disagreeing with her actions and motives, it's not hate. It's just...hindsight is 20/20.
> 
> Anyway, tell me what you think. This is just an idea I'm kicking around and I'll probably work through a whole bunch of our favorite Lance tropes. 
> 
> Title Credit: "Space Oddity" by David Bowie, one of my favorite Bowie songs. (Again, I love David Bowie. We all know this. When I finally write my novel and get it published you will all know it's me because there will be a David Bowie reference.) "Space Oddity" is a great song to sing really loud if you're kind of sad but not crying sad.

_ “This isn’t you.” _

 

_ Lance looked away. “Keith, I can’t - “ _

 

_ “No.” Keith is furious, and the words are burning his mouth as they come out. He knows he should shut up but he can’t. He’s never been able to. Not with Lance. “The Lance I know, the one who made up a whole rivalry in his head to prove he was good enough, wouldn’t want this. He wanted to do something with his life. Have adventures. See the entire universe.”  _

 

_ “We had an adventure.” Lance said, his voice shaking. “We had lots of adventures. It got Allura killed.”  _

 

_ “Sitting here isn’t going to change that! Waiting, like the Lions will come back with her on board! You can’t honestly tell me you’re happy here!”  _

 

_ “She would have wanted - “ _

 

_ “Who gives a FUCK?” Keith screamed. “If she wanted you to be happy, there’s a hell of a lot of things she could have done differently.”  _

 

_ Lance’s face crumpled. And for once, Keith saw the damage he had done. Saw the effect he had. He was out of control.  _

 

_ So he did the one thing that never failed. He turned and walked away.  _

 

~*~

 

**One Year Later**

 

Keith sighed in relief as he stepped down from his jet, unclipping his mask from his temple. Cosmo zapped to the ground next to him and pressed against his leg, a reassurance. It hasn’t been a stressful day, not like the ones he used to have. It was just a relief to stand still.

 

Shouts rang out across the Atlas hanger, and Keith looked around for his tall shadow with a loud presence before feeling incredibly stupid. Lance hadn’t so much as stepped foot on an aircraft since…

 

_ Allura _ .

 

“Keith!”

 

Keith looked around and saw Shiro waving. He jogged over and was immediately caught in a hug. That had been a thing in the past few years. Hugs. 

 

“You’re just in time.” Shiro told him when they broke apart. “Curtis is determined to kill me.”

 

Keith chuckled. “I’m sure he isn’t.”

 

“He’s changed the flowers four times. And I can’t even remember what color the napkins are supposed to be anymore.” 

 

“What am I supposed to do about that?”

 

“You can distract him.”

 

“Why? So you can run?”

 

“And cause a mutiny? I think the crew is more involved in my wedding than I am.” Shiro grumbled. “We should have eloped.”

 

“It’s not too late.” Keith reminded.

 

“Don’t remind me.”

 

“Is Hunk around?”

 

“No, he and Shay left yesterday to visit her family. Some Balmeran holiday. He left you a care package, and one to take to Pidge on Earth if you’re heading that way.”

 

“Why would I be heading to Earth?”

 

Shiro acted like he hadn’t heard, instead tugging Keith along to his personal quarters. There, they found Curtis sitting at the multi-use table and furiously scribbling something out. When he heard them enter, he looked up and broke into a real smile. “Keith!”

 

“Hey Curtis.”

 

Keith liked Curtis. He was steady, and outspoken where Shiro was reserved. He loved Shiro, in spite of the damage of the past. Best if all, he didn’t hug.

 

Curtis shook his hand, like a normal person, and gestured for Keith to sit. Cosmo immediately jumped on the neatly made bed and curled up, eyes alert even in the familiar place. Shiro greeted his fiance with a kiss before turning to the tiny kitchen unit to make coffee.

 

“What’s this?” Keith asked.

 

“Seating arrangements.” Curtis scowled at his papers. “This is impossible. Especially because  _ someone _ refuses to help.”

 

“I told you.” Shiro sighed. “As long as Slav is at a table by himself where he can’t bother anyone, the rest will be fine.” 

 

“Lance understands me.” Curtis grumbled. 

 

Keith’s jaw dropped. What?

 

“I thought he was supposed to call today.”

 

“You just missed him. He had something to deal with.”

 

Keith found his voice. “You talk to Lance?”

 

He could practically hear Shiro stiffen at the kitchenette. Curtis leveled him with a raised eyebrow almost reminiscent of the person in question. 

 

“Of course we do. He calls Shiro once a week.”

 

Keith twisted around and stared at Shiro. “Oh, really?”

 

Shiro remained silent. Curtis was busy driving the knife in between Keith’s ribs deeper anyway. Curtis was unforgiving when he saw something unjust, and right now his voice was sharper than razor wire.

 

“Well, since his best friend abandoned him a year ago, he’s needed someone to talk to” Curtis looked back at his seating chart. “Speaking of, we should put him next to Rizavi. They get along.”

 

“Only if we want the banquet hall to explode.” Shiro muttered.

 

“Oh, look at that! He does have an opinion!”

 

“You talk to Lance. “ Keith repeated. “Regularly.”

 

Shiro sighed. “Keith, I know you fell out - “

 

“I...we did not!”

 

“When was the last time you spoke to him?”

 

Keith looked away. He got updates. He knew Lance was...safe. Sitting on Altea surrounded by suffocating reminders of Allura, something Keith didn’t understand. Greif always had the effect if making Keith run, but it seemed to just make Lance stand still. But they hadn’t actually talked in...a year. Twelve months. Curtis was right. One year since Keith had said some horrible things and stormed away from the crumpled and beaten look on Lance’s face.

 

“He asks about you.” Shiro said quietly. “Every week. How you are, what you’re up to. I’ve been telling him to call you, but he says you wouldn’t pick up, and he says knows you wouldn’t because he wouldn’t pick up for you either.”

 

“He’s too damn stubborn.” Keith grumbled. 

 

“Says the pot about the kettle.” Shiro put a coffee in front of him. “Here. Drink.”

 

“What do you even talk about?” Keith asked incredulously.

 

“We have more in common than you’d think.” Shiro said lightly. “Maybe if you called him, he’d tell you.” 

 

Keith scowled. Shiro wanted to be secretive? Fine. Curtis looked like he maybe had a few opinions on the matter but thankfully kept his mouth shut. Cosmo huffed, disinterested. 

 

“I’m starving.” Keith lied, pushing away his coffee and standing. “I’m going to the mess hall.”

 

“Keith - “

 

“We both took the late shift, but make yourself at home.” Curtis said, nodding to the couch. 

 

“Thanks. Come on, Cosmo.”

 

“Keith, wait -”

 

“Tak, let him get some dinner.” Curtis said quietly. “He had a long trip.”

 

Keith left the room, his head swirling with questions and a empty sensation in his belly. He barely noticed that Cosmo didn’t follow. 

 

Did he care that Lance was suddenly close to Shiro? No. He just didn’t understand why no one had told him. It wasn’t like he made a big deal of their fight. He just...stopped calling. Had Lance made a big deal of it? Probably. Lance made a big deal of everything. He used to, anyway…

 

He took the long route to the mess hall. Now that he thought about it, he was hungry. For real food, not just protein packs. Hunk may not be here, but his staff wasn’t anything to sneeze at. Honestly, he’d never seen a buffet line that looked that appetizing. 

 

He loaded his plate with a little more food than strictly necessary and was heading for a table in the corner when familiar eyes caught his. Blue. Not periwinkle or sky or ocean or Lion. But just...a kind of dusted blue that didn’t have a name. 

 

“Keith!” 

 

Veronica. Veronica had her brother’s eyes. She looked so much like him. Keith wondered why he had never noticed it before. Or maybe it was just that he hadn’t seen Lance in years.

 

“Come sit with us!”

 

He didn’t want to. He’d much rather mope in silence about Shiro’s weird attitude. But he usually wasn’t good at making up excuses and this moment was no exception. So he resigned himself to an uncomfortably familiar observant gaze and redirected his feet.

 

Veronica was sitting with Ina, who barely looked up from her tablet to greet him. Veronica was already chattering at a mile a minute about how she didn’t expect to see him and their next mission and how was Acxa and his mother and - 

 

“How’s your brother?” Keith asked.

 

She paused, and suddenly seemed weary. “Luis is doing great. He’s working with this new drummer -”

 

“Veronica.” Keith bit out. “I don’t care about Luis. How’s Lance?”

 

“Last I checked, you didn’t care much about Lance either.” she said cooly.

 

Keith looked away. “That’s not true.”

 

“Really? Cause he thinks you gave up on him.”

 

Gave up? When had he ever...no, Lance wouldn’t think that...except he would...when he was 17 and coming to Keith for reassurance but they were older now. Right?

 

“I just want to know if he’s alright.” Keith said quietly.

 

“He’s fine.” Veronica said in a clipped tone.

 

“Doing well on the farm?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“No.”

 

Startled, Keith looked over at Ina. He had almost forgotten she was there. Veronica let out a hiss.

 

“What do you mean, no?” Keith asked.

 

“He’s not on the farm.” Ina said, not even looking up from her tablet. “The family is worried.”

 

“He’s missing?” Keith demanded, looking at Veronica. “What -”

 

“He’s not missing.” Veronica said through gritted teeth. “We just don’t know where he is.” 

 

That sounded a lot like he was missing.

 

“Shiro.” Keith said instantly. “He said Lance calls - “

 

“He calls us too.” Veronica looked sad now. Maybe a little hopeless. “We know he’s okay. He’s...honestly he’s having the time of his life. But he won’t tell us where he is.”

 

Keith frowned. That didn’t sound like Lance. 

 

For a few seconds, he asked himself why he even cared. Lance hadn’t reached out in a whole year. Not even a Christmas card. Keith maybe should have but...he got busy. And time had slipped away before he knew it. 

 

Besides, he had learnt a long time ago that Lance didn’t care much about him outside of the parameters of Voltron. Or that he had more important things on his mind. Maybe with the Lions gone, their fight and distance had all just been a matter of time. 

 

But he found himself asking, “What happened?”

 

Veronica shrugged helplessly. “A few months ago, he just...said he needed a break, packed up his things, and borrowed a jet from Coran. He calls, so we know he’s doing alright, but he never says where he is. I think he doesn’t want us going after him.”

 

“You tried tracing the calls?”

 

Veronica scoffed. “Of course I did. It’s completely scrambled.”

 

“What’s he even doing?”

 

She shook her head. “Playing guitar. Bartending. Whatever strikes his fancy. He ran around with Rizavi for a bit, chasing adrenaline highs. Skydiving, street racing -”

 

“Street racing?”

 

Ina flipped up her tablet to show a video playing. A small fleets worth of hooked up cruisers flashed across the screen, with Rizavi cheering in the background. The camera turned to follow the cruisers, then zoomed in on one near the head of the pack.

 

“He says he’s fine.” Veronica was saying. “But this just...I don’t know. It’s like he’s looking for something but he has no idea what it is.”

 

This isn’t the grieving Lance on the Altean farm, and it isn’t the young paladin Keith once fought and bickered with mercilessly while getting ready to lay his own life down to protect him. This is...something Keith can’t even begin to understand. And honestly, he’s not sure if he wants to.

 

“If he says he’s fine, he’s fine.” Keith finally said.

 

Veronica looked downcast. Like she was hoping...Keith could give her some answer. Or prove her claim that he didn’t care wrong. 

 

“Sure.” she said, looking through Ina’s tablet. “He’s fine.”

 

~*~

 

When Keith got back to Shiro and Curtis’ quarters, they were already gone. They had left some food and water out for Cosmo, who pounced the moment Keith opened the door. He flopped onto the couch and welcomed Cosmo’s warm, fluffy weight as the wolf sprawled across his lap. He tried not to think about Lance.

 

In an effort to ignore the unease in his mind, he turned on the TV and flipped though a few channels before settling on a news report from the Xylos Sector. A viral outbreak on Orbital 6 meant a travel ban to and from the planet. Pirate attacks on the outskirts, no one had been seriously injured. He was half asleep and listening to a story about a Yupper who returned to his master after being abducted when the story paused and he heard a ringing sound instead. 

 

**_Incoming Call from :_ **

**_Lance McClain_ **

**_Answer / / Decline_ **

 

Keith stared at the screen in horror. No, no, no, no. He could not do this. He couldn’t answer when he was alone. He couldn’t answer period. 

 

It kept ringing. 

 

What would he even say?  _ Hey, no they’re not here, your sister’s worried, no it’s not weird that I ask all our friends how you are because I’m too much of a coward to call you and apologize for basically calling you pathetic and saying you were lying to yourself.  _

 

Cosmo whimpered at him, and Keith felt that sick, weightless sensation in his gut again. When the ringing stopped, he cuddled Cosmo closer and shut his eyes, which made the sensation worse. The news broadcast continued. 

 

_ Ping!  _

 

Keith opened his eyes to a new message, this one in the top corner of the screen. 

 

**_You have one (1) new message._ **

 

Of course he left a fucking message. 

 

The sick feeling was creeping up into his throat now, and the words were taunting him. He could watch it...tell Shiro about it later…

 

Maybe the kicked puppy look Lance had adopted would remind Keith that...what? He was a garbage human being  _ and  _ galra for walking out on someone who needed him? Someone who had been everything he ever needed?

 

“Play message.” he croaked. 

 

The news broadcast paused again, and after a moment the screen was filled with...Lance. Bright eyed, freckled, far too perfect smiled Lance. His skin was richer and darker than Keith remembered, his hair was definitely longer. Almost a mullet, Keith thought smugly. Then he spoke, and Keith felt sick again. 

 

“Hey guys!” 

 

He’s leaning against a wall. He could be anywhere. There’s the noise of a vacuum in the background, but it’s in a different room. 

 

“Hey, Shiro, Curtis, sorry I had to run earlier. This wild animal tore through the bar and...well, it’s a funny story and I’ll tell you later. I guess you’re busy with Keith visiting anyway. Tell him…”

 

Lance’s voice faltered, and Keith closed his eyes tight enough to block out the lost expression on his face. 

 

“I don’t know.” Lance said, his voice horse. “Tell him...something, I guess.”

 

Keith paused the message and hid his face in his hands. The time bar told him there were another two minutes of message to play but he couldn't handle it.  Why had he let it get to this point? 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise I am working on finishing Duality Project. It's just...kind of hit a road block. 
> 
> Anyway, here's the second installment.

_ “Hey, let’s go.” _

 

_ Lance started, waking from his daydream. He blinked a few times at Keith, his cheeks coloring as if Keith could read whatever thoughts he had.  _

 

_ “Thought you liked having your picture taken.” Keith teased, knocking his shoulder. “Don’t get nervous now.” _

 

_ “I don’t get nervous, Keith.” Lance stood and dusted off the front of his uniform.  _

 

_ They walked slowly towards their teammates. A photographer was arranging them into a formation for some recruitment poster. Allura was off to the side, and she smiled at Lance which made Keith’s heart give a tiny irritable twitch. The Garrison wanted to stress the importance of what Earth had to offer for this campaign so she wouldn’t be in the photos. Keith stomped out the irritation before it caught flame. No time for that now.  _

 

_ “Hey Keith?” Lance suddenly asked. _

 

_ “What?” _

 

_ “Ever wonder if...maybe if you just did one thing differently...if things would be different now?”  _

 

_ Keith frowned at him. Introspective, philosophical Lance, in his memory, was not usually a good sign. Maybe Keith took too long to respond, because Lance shook himself and smiled brightly. _

 

_ “Nevermind. It’s nothing. Let’s go get famous.” _

 

_ ~*~ _

 

_ Tell him...something. _

 

Keith pounded the bag again and again, knuckles far past aching at this point. 

 

_ Since his best friend abandoned him… _

 

Where was Hunk? Or Pidge? Why did everyone act like Lance was his responsibility? Except Shiro, apparently, who suddenly talked to him constantly. Who had Lance helping plan his damn wedding.

 

_ I thought you didn’t care much about him either.  _

 

He really wished he didn’t. 

 

The bag swung back at him mercilessly, and Keith could only see burning blue marks when he closed his eyes. He wanted to be angry, to burn the guilt sitting heavily in his throat. But there wasn’t anything to be angry at.

 

“You break it, you buy it.”

 

Keith grabbed the bag to stop its motion, then turned to look at Shiro. “I’m not going to break it.”

 

“Well, you were certainly trying.” Shiro observed mildly. He held out a water bottle. A peace offering. “Take a break.”

 

“I’m fine.”

 

“Keith.”

 

Keith sighed and stepped towards him, reaching for the bottle. A decent bit went over his head before he actually drank any.

 

“You saw his message?”

 

Keith looked away.

 

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you we talked so much.” Shiro said gently. “After your fight...well, Lance has never been the easiest topic for you. Not even before.”

 

“Where is he?” Keith asked sharply. “Veronica says he won’t say.”

 

“I don’t know. He doesn’t tell me either.”

 

“Well what does he tell you?” Keith asked bitterly. “Two minutes is a long message, even for Lance.”

 

Shiro sighed. “It started...I don’t know. A few months after the war ended he reached out. We talked about Allura. Adam. A lot of things. Lance has...been through more than anyone realized.”

 

Keith frowned.

 

“Soon we were calling once a week. When you got in your fight things changed. He was sad before but suddenly he just seemed...lost.” Shiro sounded bitter. “You never understood the effect you have on Lance.”

 

That wasn’t right. Lance never understood the effect he had on Keith. Driving him crazy, keeping him up at night. Careless smiles and thoughts and pieces of information all swirling around Keith’s poor, deluded mind. All the things Keith had kept locked away for years, until he no longer felt their weight. 

 

It wasn’t like that anymore, Keith thought. He’s not a teenager in a war with a hopeless crush on the one available option. He’s an adult. He found his place.

 

He abandoned his best friend.

 

“Where is he?” Keith asked again.

 

Shiro frowned at him. “You have to let him do this.”

 

“It’s not safe!” Keith argued. “What if something happens and we can’t even find out where he last was!”

 

“The war’s over, Keith. Things aren’t like before.”

 

“What about the Iberian pirates?”

 

Shiro looked wary. “What about them?”

 

“Their attacks are getting more frequent. It hasn’t gotten violent yet, but that can change. It will change. You know that.”

 

“Lance can handle himself. I don’t know if you remember, but he’s a pretty good shot.”

 

Keith rolled his eyes. Pretty good didn’t quite cover it, as insufferable as it made Lance.

 

“It’s a big universe. Anything can happen.” 

 

Shiro shook his head. “Lance needs to do this, Keith. You told him as much. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s doing this because of you.”

 

“Well then I should be the one to get him, shouldn’t I?”

 

“You can’t...this road, it may take you places you don’t like.”

 

He remembered Lance’s defeated figure as he stormed away, the blue markings on his face seared into Keith’s memory. A reminder for Lance, a torture for Keith. 

 

“I have to talk to him.” Keith said, finding his resolve. “Apologize for what I said and...just, make sure he’s safe. If he wants to soul search after that, fine.”

 

Shiro studied him for a moment, then shook his head. “I never did understand you two.”

 

**The Next Morning**

 

“You’re really going?”

 

Keith looked up from packing his gear behind his pilot seat in his re-purposed stealth jet and saw Curtis. He leaned against a neighboring ship, arms crossed as he studied Keith.

 

“Someone has to tell Lance he’s being an idiot.” Keith said, turning back to his bag. “Guess some things never change.”

 

Keith finished strapping down his bag, then jumped down from the jet. He picked his jacket up off the floor, shrugging it on and avoiding Curtis’ gaze. “Look, you can’t talk me out of going, so -”

 

“I’m not going to.” Curtis shook his head. “I’ve always told Tak he’s an idiot for not trying to track Lance down. You’re right to be worried. I’m just making sure you know why you’re going.”

 

“What do you mean?” 

 

“Look, I talk to Lance too. He’s...once he told me that he was never sure what you wanted from him. So, before you go, what do you want from Lance? What is this trip going to get you?”

 

Keith frowned. He had always so sure that Lance could read him like a book. Lance never had to ask what he needed or wanted he just...did it.

 

“I’m...making things right.” Keith said. “I’m...I don’t know. I want to apologize and we both know he won’t pick up if I call so...well, he always liked grand gestures.” 

 

Curtis studied him for a moment, then snorted and shook his head. “Hunk Garrett is about to make a lot of money.”

 

“What?”

 

“Don’t worry about it.” Curtis turned and gave him a backwards wave. “Stay safe out there.”

 

Keith frowned after him. What did Hunk have to do with anything? 

 

There was a beep from his pocket, and Keith frowned as he pulled the communicator out. He accepted the call and rose his eyebrows at the image of Rey’un, his second in command.

 

“Hey, leader, when are you coming back?” she snapped. “Your chair’s too hard. It bites into my ass.”

 

God damn it. Keith thought he had at least a few days before responsibilities started to catch up. Then again, he always overestimated Rey’un’s tolerance for the mantle of leadership. 

 

Rey’un hadn’t been his first choice for a second in command, though how the members of the Blade would have reacted...maybe it was a good thing Lance had turned him down. Rey’un hadn’t been his second choice either, and he had actually been surprised when Acxa decided to stay with the Galaxy Garrison and by extension Veronica McClain. Rey’un had been one of Keith’s few friends in the Blade, trustworthy and an incredible stealth agent. A good leader, too, as long as she wasn’t the one at the top.

 

“I’m going on leave.” Keith said flatly.

 

“What? Why?”

 

“You’ve been bothering me to go on leave for ages.” he scowled at her. “You’re worse than my mother.”

 

“Yeah, I meant to take leave when I was also on leave so someone else was in charge.”

 

Keith rolled his eyes. “I can demote you.”

 

“You’d never keep the ranks in line without me.” 

 

That was debatable.

 

“Rey’un, I have to deal with some stuff. I’ll be back in a few days.”

 

How hard could it be to track down one showy former paladin? Subtlety was never Lance’s strong suit. He’d probably left some trail of ridiculous stories and imagined heartbreak in his wake. If he was soul searching like Shiro had said, trying to find the person he had stopped being years ago, maybe that was the person Keith should try to find.

 

“You’ll be fine,” Keith reassured, cutting across Rey’un’s unheard griping. “Just...keep running the training drills and I’ll be back before you know it.”

 

How hard could it be?

 

**Earth**

 

The Earth had changed, since Keith was here last. The Reconstruction had finished, populating the surface with sleek white buildings and sensible urban planning. The inhabitants had changed too - more colors, more species. Families started growing again.

 

Keith stares up at a huge poster plastered to the side of a wall. It’s older than its surroundings, a little faded. But their five faces stare at him, younger than he is now but older than their years. Shiro in the middle with Hunk and Pidge on his left and Keith and Lance on his right. 

 

_ Join the Fight for Tomorrow! _

 

Once, Keith thought things would always be like that. Lance would always be right there next to him, for better or worse. Back then, he never would have walked away. But then, back then Keith still hoped that things could…

 

Well, it didn’t matter now.

 

Kosmo whimpered, nudging Keith’s hand with his cold nose and bringing him out of his thoughts. Keith smiled and scratched behind his ears in thanks, before heading around the corner of the building. 

 

He had landed on Earth a few hours before, via wormhole, and was temporarily busied with errands on Shiro’s behalf. When he was finally free, he spent half an hour wandering the Garrison R&D complex before finding Matt Holt, who said his sister was at her private lab offsite. 

 

Part of him thought...if Lance was anywhere, he’d be in Cuba. On the beach. Just like he always talked about. But that was too obvious and if what the stories Veronica had told him about his adventures with Nadia Rivazi were true...Lance was not relaxing.

 

So, here he was, preparing to say any number of things to convince Pidge to help him.

 

“This should be it.” Keith muttered, checking the address Matt had scribbled on a slip of paper for him. He shifted the bag on his back and input the access code on the screen next to the door. 

 

Inside was cool and dark, just the way the Green Paladin liked it. He had walked into a large empty space with a few oil stains on the cement floor. 

 

“Pidge?” he called.

 

“Back here!”

 

He headed for the shelves on the far side, slipping between messy spools of wire and a stack of circuit boards, piles of designs and hologram chips, tools of every size. Pidge’s safety zone.

 

The next area was smaller, lit by a few lamps focused on a large work table. A dull grey robotic boy stood to the side, weaving wires together in a tight braid to tidy up after his mistress. Pidge looked up and grinned.

 

“Well, look what the space wolf dragged in.”

 

“Hey, Pidge.”

 

As she approached, the difference in their heights became more apparent. Pidge always seemed taller than she actually was, confidence and personality lending her a few extra inches. 

 

_ Tall girl energy, _ Lance had chuckled once. 

 

Pidge hugged him with a tight ferocity, smiling slightly when Keith wrapped his arms around her narrow shoulders. 

 

“What brings you out here?” she asked. 

 

He shrugged and held up his bag. “I brought beers.”

 

She smiled, but her eyes still glinted with suspicion. He hadn’t given her an answer. 

 

It wasn’t like Keith to show up unexpectedly. Or to show up in general. He kept in touch, of course. But apart from Shiro the only person he actually visited was...well, Lance. He was busy. Pidge was always knee deep in some project and she had a tendency to want to fix things that she deemed broken. Most of his friends did. 

 

Not Lance. Even in the beginning, even though it seemed his sheer existence drove him crazy, Lance just accepted him as he was. Lance never once saw Keith as something broken, maybe something to be improved but not fixed. He had never gotten around to asking why.

 

Maybe if he could track him down, he could ask. 

 

Keith greeted Chip, the robot, without prompting, which made Pidge smile, and they sat at the table and cracked open the beer Keith had brought. They chatted lightly about their families for a bit while they drank. Soon they were opening their second round.

 

“Have you heard from Lance lately?” Keith asked, trying to keep his tone casual. 

 

Pidge instantly looked wary. “He passed through a few months ago.” 

 

“He say where he was going?”

 

“No, and you shouldn’t go after him.” she said sharply. “he needs this.”

 

“He shouldn’t be out there alone.” Keith argued. “I thought maybe you could help me - “

 

“Help you what? He doesn’t want to be found, Keith. We should respect that.” 

 

Keith looked away.

 

“Why do you want to find him, anyway?” Pidge finally asked. “You haven’t spoken in a year.”

 

“I just…”

 

Why was he here? He has asked himself a million times since saying goodbye to Shiro and Curtis on the Atlas, but all the reasons, though true, didn’t seem to fit. Apologies, concern, nothing seemed right. Lance was...had been his best friend. And there wasn’t a good reason for him to suddenly chase after him, especially not after walking away in the first place.

 

“This isn’t him.” Keith finally said. “Lance doesn’t just...leave. Or take risks like...traveling without letting someone know...it’s not like him.”

 

Pidge sighed, conceding his point. “I know. I tried to tell Shiro but...he just keeps saying Lance has to figure this out. I’m surprised he didn’t stop you.”

 

“He tried.” Keith muttered irritably. “Pidge have you tried...I don’t know, tracing his calls?”

 

She shook her head sadly. “It’s impossible.” 

 

“You haven’t even tried? I thought there wasn’t a device you couldn’t crack.”

 

“There isn’t. Except the one he got from me.”

 

“You gave him -?”

 

“Of course not! He stole it!” Keith expected her to be angry, instead she was just upset. “I always underestimated him. Guess I’m paying for it now. He must have swiped it when I wasn’t looking. I was so shocked he was here...you know, you were right about him sitting on Altea. He wasn’t himself. He was grieving, I guess, but...I don’t know.” 

 

Pidge looked like she wanted to say more, but turned her head away to frown at the floor. Cosmo got up and slowly walked over, wagging his tail. Pidge sighed and smiled when the wolf rested his head on her lap, then scratched behind his ears. 

 

“You can’t trace the thing he stole?” Keith asked, feeling the hope he didn’t know he was carrying leave his chest.

 

“It’s impossible. I built it to be impossible.” She shook her head. “Keith, I’m sorry. I know you want to make things right but...I think Lance is doing all of this because of you.”

 

“Me?” Keith frowned. “I don’t...Lance wouldn’t go AWOL because of me.” 

 

She snorted. “Yeah, okay.” 

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

 

“It means, dingus, that Lance has done a lot of impossible things because of you.” She sighed, studying the beer in her hands. “Honestly, I always thought it would be you and him, not Allura.”

 

“Not Allura, what?” 

 

“Come on, Keith. Don’t make me spell it out for you.”

 

He turned away, feeling that box at the bottom of his heart shake violently. She didn’t have to spell it out. It had been years and a few partners since he’d entertained those notions, but the memories were still there.

 

“He made his choice.” Keith muttered.

 

“You chose for him.” Pidge snapped. 

 

“What? No!” Keith’s foundations were shaking. “Lance always was over the moon for her. From day one.”

 

“Until he was hanging around with you all the time.” Pidge shook her head. “God, for a while we all thought you were dating and just didn’t want to tell us. You were always together. And when you weren’t he wouldn’t shut up about you.” 

 

Keith’s heart was pounding. There was no way...Lance was just...Lance. They spent so much time together because...well, he always tried to send Lance away but he was stubborn and...Keith had his thing but...it wasn’t like Lance reciprocated…

 

“You left for the Blade and he was crushed.” Pidge was saying. “I don’t think...we never saw him unless there was a mission. But Allura was there and I think he just...fell back on old habits, I guess.” 

 

“We were close.” Keith hedged. “That doesn’t mean anything. It certainly doesn’t mean anything now.” 

 

Pidge shook her head. “Keith, think what you want. But I’m telling you, if you had stayed things would have ended a lot differently.”

 

_ This road, it may take you places you don’t like _ , Shiro had warned. Had he known? He couldn’t imagine Lance talking to Shiro about...himself. like that. 

 

Even if Pidge was right, which he doubted, that was years ago. Things were different now.

 

“What’s done is done.” Keith told her. “I just...it’s not safe for him to be alone. And I want to apologize. For leaving, I guess.”

 

“I suppose we all should.” Pidge admitted quietly. “Look, I don’t know where he is. But I know he was hanging around with Razavi for a while.”

 

“Where?”

 

“Mmm, around here for a bit. I think they had a short stint on Wreyn, before they were kicked off planet. Caused too much trouble for the local priests.”

 

“Doing what?” 

 

She shook her head. “Not my story to tell. Anyway, last I heard Rizavi was on Trottenham IV.”

 

“Just Rizavi?”

 

“Yeah. But she might be able to tell you where Lance was heading.”

 

“Thanks, Pidge.”

 

She waved a hand like it was no issue. Keith lifted his backpack off the floor, and suddenly remembered it’s weight. 

 

“Oh, hey. I have something for you.” 

 

She visibly perked up. If this conversation had been hard on Keith, it had worn Pidge down. As if her experiences watching Keith flounder and Lance diminish were somehow more tiring than it was to actually flounder or diminish. 

 

Keith pulled the green tote from his backpack and handed it over. “Care package from Hunk.” he explained. 

 

She smiled and accepted it. “Thanks. Oh, hey, if you see him - “

 

“I’m not a courier service.” Keith grumbled. 

 

“ - give him this.” She held up a small white envelope. The kind that you put physical keys or cash tips in. “Tell him, he wins.”

 

“Wins what?”

 

“Don’t worry about it.” She had a funny smile on her face. “Good luck. Finding Lance.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll expand more on the Hunk thing later, but I do want to talk about it. 
> 
> Remember in How I Met Your Mother, when Marshall and Lily started placing bets as their hobby? And Marshall bet that Ted and Robin would end up together, and over the years it keeps seeming like it's over for them but Marshall keeps telling Lily, "Not yet"? 
> 
> That's the kind of friend I imagine Hunk being. The one who knows that the right path isn't always the straightest, and at the end of the day believes that people who really love each other find a way to make it work. So over the years, when Keith leaves and Allura chooses Lance and Keith and Lance fall out, even when Hunk tells Lance to go for Allura, everyone keeps telling Hunk, "Pay up." 
> 
> And he just smiles and says, "Not yet."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG YOU GUYSSSSS!!!! <3
> 
> So, When the Floodwater Comes was added/nominated to The Klance Fanfic Survey (found here: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/TheKlanceFanficSurveyFics ) and okay, it's one of over a hundred but still. I'm excited cause like it's exposure, and it means I've come a really long way from where I was when I started writing fics over a decade ago. 
> 
> So, anyway, thank you. To all of you. All of your kudos and comments on all of my work means the world to me.

_Clang!_

 

_Keith looked up with a start. Lance and Nadia Rizavi had slammed their lunch trays down across from him and were having what seemed to be a heated argument._

 

_“Farscape was a way better example -”_

 

_“Example of what? Some geek’s technicolor wet dream circa 2002 -”_

 

_“It had funding, at least!”_

 

_“Yeah, and look at the crap they produced with it. Now Star Trek Enterprise -”_

 

_“Are you shitting me?”_

 

_“It was the same era and was way better!”_

 

_“And was build off of previous work! Farscape was an original work -”_

 

_“Keith! Back me up!”_

 

_Keith blinked numbly at Lance’s stubborn upper lip. “Uhm...Doctor Who?”_

 

_They both groaned and shook their heads, but dropped the argument. Nadia shoveled food into her mouth and jumped up, saying she had ‘shit to do’._

 

_“Still on for zero-grav dodgeball later?” she asked._

 

_“Yeah, bro.”_

 

_They high fived and went through a couple of quick, memorized motions, before the MFE pilot left and Lance grinned widely at Keith._

 

_“Can we keep her forever?”_

 

_~*~_

 

**Trottenham IV, Orbit**

 

“Look, I just need to - “

 

“Please hold, sir.”

 

“No, no - God fucking damn it!” Keith slammed a fist down on the control panel.

 

He had been orbiting around Trottenham IV for half an hour now, on and off hold with the planet’s main security forces and trying to obtain permission to land. How he missed the days of Voltron. Everyone recognized the Lions. And if they didn’t, Allura usually worked some diplomatic magic to get them access.

 

He had tried his usual Blade identification codes, which apparently had been changed. Probably the doing of Rey’un, who could be incredibly petty when she wanted to be. So now he was on hold, while his identity was being confirmed.

 

His communicator blipped at him, and he sighed and dragged his fingers through his hair as he pulled it towards him.

 

**Incoming Call From:**

**Atlas Command**

**Accept // Reject**

 

Keith accepted the call and was surprised to see Curtis fill his vid screen, not Shiro.

 

“Hey.”

 

“Hey. Where’s Shiro?”

 

“He was sick all night. Finally fell asleep with a bit of chemical help.”

 

Curtis did look exhausted. It made Keith wonder if Shiro’s ‘sickness’ was a bad bout of nightmares.

 

“Where are you?”

 

“Orbiting around Trottenham IV. My identity codes were changed on me and I’m having trouble getting through.”

 

“We can take care of that.” Curtis nodded to someone offscreen. “How’s the search going?”

 

“Not much of a search so far. Talked to Pidge, she told me to come here.”

 

“She say anything else?”

 

Pidge said a lot else. Keith had stayed overnight at the Holt’s, accepting the bed because it was free and more comfortable than the Garrison barracks. No one brought up the reason for Keith’s stay, but Pidge’s implications in her lab swirled around his mind. He barely heard the argument she had with her mother at dinner over Pidge getting her own place.

 

_You chose for him._

 

Curtis subtly moved closer to the screen and put on a set of headphones so they wouldn’t be overheard. “I know that look.”

 

“I don’t have a look.”

 

“Yes, you do. It’s the look when you’re not processing something. Ironically, Shiro had the same look when I first told him I loved him.”

 

“Gross.”

 

“It’ll happen to you.” Curtis said mindlessly, in that irritating way people in love always said it. It was infuriating. “This might take a minute. Help me with this seating chart.”

 

“Shouldn’t you be...I don’t know, doing your job?”

 

Curtis shrugged. “We’re en route to negotiate a ceasefire in the Galtrax System. They’re in the middle of a civil war that’s tearing both sides to pieces. So, not much to do until it’s time to wake Tak up.” Curtis held up a diagram. “Okay, so, I was thinking we put your mother with Acxa and Veronica, and hopefully that will keep her from stabbing someone - “

 

“I thought Lance was helping you with this.” Keith scowled. “Hey - how come I’m not on there?”

 

“You’re Tak’s Best Man, idiot. You’re sitting with us.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Yeah, oh.” Curtis turned his diagram around to look at it. “Tak wanted all the Paladins sitting with us, but with plus ones it’s impossible.”

 

“Do I get a plus one?”

 

“No.”

 

Keith was outraged. “Why not?”

 

“First of all, you have horrible taste in men. I swear the last one was a pirate. The gross kind, not the hot kind. Tak agreed.”

 

“Oh, my God - “

 

“Second of all, I doubt there’s anyone you actually want to invite.”

 

Well, that was true. Keith opted for petulant sulking anyway. “I bet Lance gets a plus one.”

 

Curtis just smirked at him. Keith wondered why the hell he talked to him in the first place, then remembered Shiro’s sanity. Why did he care about that again?

 

“What did Pidge say?” Curtis asked. “To get your face in such a twist.”

 

Keith rubbed his eyes. “Doesn’t matter.”

 

“Don’t make me go get Tak.”

 

Keith groaned. “It’s nothing, alright? She just...pointed out that I may have...pushed him away. Lance, I mean.”

 

“Hate to break it to you, but when you don’t speak to someone for a year that’s what tends to happen.”

 

“Before that. Years ago.” Keith shook his head. “Pidge thinks...she thinks if I never went to the Blade then me and Lance would have ended up dating or something.”

 

Curtis’ face softened. “Tak told me - “

 

“She’s full of it.” Keith said bluntly.

 

“How can you say that? You clearly felt some way - “

 

“I was eighteen and shipped off to a war I had no part in, and Lance was one of the six people I was trapped there with. It was just attraction.”

 

“Even if that’s true - “

 

“It is.”

 

“ - you’re one hundred percent sure it was the same for him?”

 

Keith’s resolve faltered. Pidge had never once said anything about Keith’s feelings in their discussion. The whole foundation of her argument seemed to be how withdrawn Lance was after he left. And God, if there had been one thing he hated about seeing Lance and Allura together it was how subdued he always seemed. Was that somehow...his fault?

 

Curtis sighed. “Look, I wasn’t there. I wouldn’t know. But you’ve only been searching a day and you’re already stressed. You’ll see him at the wedding. Lance wouldn’t miss that.”  

 

Keith was saved from having to answer that by the orbital patrol crackling over his ship’s coms again.

 

“Commander Kogane, you have been cleared for landing.”

 

Keith thanked the voice, but the communication ended abruptly. He sighed and looked at Curtis again.

 

“Tell Shiro I say hi.” he said glumly.

 

“Yeah. Be careful, alright?”

 

“Thanks. Good luck with your seating chart.”

 

“I’ll need it.”

 

~*~

 

Keith dodged a pair of drunk galra as they gestured wildly at each other, weaving between them and other tourists on the boardwalk. Trottenham IV was a small planet mostly covered in oceans, the only landmasses being two rings of archipelago which circled the entire planet. The economy largely relied on tourism, and since the war had ended business was booming.

 

It was exactly the kind of place Keith expected to find Lance.

 

There were more private areas. Small islands where you could rent secluded cabanas. But this was the main city, populated with hotels and bars and every type of pleasure seekers paradise imaginable. And Keith had a specific destination in mind.

 

“Keith! Over here!”

 

He looked up and smiled slightly at Nadia Rizavi, waving at him from a tiny tiki bar which was literally a thatch roof and bar seating. Next to her, Ryan Kinkade drank a large layered drink topped with a bright orange umbrella. Cosmo zapped away from Keith and materialized next to Nadia, who laughed and bent down to scratch his ears.

 

They both looked happy. Healthy. Keith knew Kinkade was currently on leave from the Garrison, and was relaxing here for a few days before heading back to Earth to see his family. Nadia had asked for a discharge a few years ago and since had been a nomad. Pidge had told him that she was currently working at this bar to save up money to get to her next destination.

 

Keith slid into a seat next to Kinkade and Nadia vaulted over the bar. “Can I make you a drink? Wait! No! Let me guess...a Hurricane!”

 

“Uhh…”

 

“Just let her.” Kinkade muttered. “She thinks she’s good at this.”

 

Nadia, hands filled with bottles, stuck her tongue out. Soon Keith had a large glass of rum, simple syrup and juice topped with what looked like a blood orange slice and tasted like maraschino cherry. It was honestly too sweet for him, but it was cold and Nadia looked really proud of herself so he drank it.

 

“So, Keith, didn’t take you for an island-vacation type.” Nadia said, leaning on her bar.

 

“I’m not on vacation.” he admitted. “I was hoping you could help me find Lance. I heard he was traveling with you for a while.”

 

“Oh, my God. That man.” Nadia put a hand over her heart. “I swear, those two months were the best of my life. We had so much fun. You have no idea.”

 

See, this was what Keith was expecting.

 

“He’s just one of those people things happen to, you know? Like, we’d go to a planet and think, hey, we’ll just bum around for a bit. And then next thing I know, we’re in the middle of a coup.”

 

“Is that what happened on Wreyn?” Keith asked. “I heard you got kicked off planet.”

 

Nadia grinned mischievously. “Oh, no. That was completely different. A shocking tale. An absolute scandal.”

 

“What happened?” Ryan asked.

 

“Well, it started because Lance was sleeping with the High Priest’s son.”

 

Keith inhaled half of his drink and choked, prompting Ryan to smack him on the back. Nadia rose an eyebrow at him.

 

“You do know he’s bi, right?”

 

“Of course I do.” Keith grumbled.

 

Of course he knew Lance was bisexual, in theory at least. He had never seen it in practice. And for some reason, the thought was making Keith’s throat constrict.

 

“So, Lance is banging this guy, right? And like, _everybody_ knows, except this guy’s dad. And Lance is...well, you know how charming he can be when he wants to. Honestly, he’s more dangerous with a smile than with a gun.”

 

Keith knew. Keith definitely knew. He was fortunate that at seventeen Lance had no idea how to arm that smile. He guessed that had changed.

 

“So, everything’s fine and dandy, and the priest’s son is falling hard for Lance, which in retrospect is really bad but we were getting primo treatment and staying in this palace so I figured he’d get over it eventually.”

 

“Jesus Christ, Nadia.” Kinkade sighed.

 

“What?” she demanded. “I was getting laid too! Anyway, Lance gets really drunk one night and is with the priest’s son and starts calling him some other name.”

 

“Oh my God.” Keith muttered.

 

“Right. Straight out of a telenovela. Anyway, this kid gets all pissy. And he’s a spoiled brat, so he wants to run to daddy, but that would involve admitting he’s been taking it up the ass from this wildcard tourist when he’s supposed to be getting married next month.”

 

Nadia pauses to take a long slurp of whatever drink she had made herself. Keith is trying to wrap his head around this absolutely ludacris story that seems to just accumulate complications as it goes along. Which, well, typical Lance.

 

“So, he steals his father’s Pope Hat - I’m not kidding, it was basically a Pope Hat and he wore it everywhere - and he plants it in Lance’s room. Cliche, right? So you can imagine, High Priest is tearing apart the palace looking for the damn thing and finds it in Lance’s room. We were out on a hike at the time and came back to find wanted posters with Lance’s face plastered everywhere. Luckily we did have some other friends there who managed to smuggle us off planet in the back of a shipping vessel. Unfortunately we had to leave Lance’s ship behind.”

 

Keith is trying to process. He really is. The details are swirling around and sizzling out, leaving behind the bare bones. Lance had a boyfriend, and he screwed up. The boyfriend part is all lit up and blasting fog horns at him, and he doesn’t know why.

 

Maybe at this point it’s just hard to imagine sad mopey Lance with anyone. Let alone a guy. Not after Allura. Although according to Nadia, sad mopey Lance wasn’t the current model.

 

“What was the name?” Kinkade asked.

 

Nadia gave him a wicked grin. “Give you three guesses.”

 

Besides, it’s not fair for Keith to judge. Maybe Lance had been a little callous with this guy who obviously liked him, at least the way Nadia told the story, but Keith had been there. In the past few years there had been a few guys he had tried with and all of them seemed to just...fall flat.

 

“It wasn’t always like that.” Nadia said.

 

Keith looked up to see her expression had softened a little. “Really? Sounds like you two had a wild time.”

 

“Wreyn was the exception, not the rule. Lance saw something about that guy that he liked, even if things went bad in the end. Most of the time we were just...hanging out. Finding fun things to do. He started playing guitar again.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah.” Nadia smiled. “He’d hang out in parks and play for hours, just to spread a bit of Earth. Calling himself Ziggy Stardust when people asked, but everyone called him The Guitar Man.”

 

“The Guitar Man?”

 

“It might have been me who spread it.” she admitted. “My mom is a music historian and she’s always had this weird thing about the early 2000’s. There was this one song that always got stuck in my head...hold on, I convinced Lance to play it for me...I have a video somewhere.”

 

She turned and picked up a canvas messenger bag, digging through it for a moment before coming up with a small tablet. She tapped through a few files before turning it so all three of them could watch.

 

“Do you really have to record this?” Lance complained on the screen.

 

“We need some sort of documentation! Come on! The Guitar Man! He’s famous in this sector.”

 

“Ziggy Stardust was a way better alias.”

 

“Only because no one knew you were ripping off a pop icon.”

 

“David Bowie would be proud - “

 

“Yeah, yeah, come on, start playing. I’m not sure how much memory I have.”

 

Lance sighed and picked up a tune.

 

“Who draws a crowd? Who plays so loud?

Baby, it’s the guitar man.

Who’s going to steal the show?

You know, baby it’s the guitar man.

He can make you love, he can make you cry.

He will bring you down, he will get you high.

Something keeps him going, miles and miles away,

To find another place to play.”

 

This isn’t sad mopey Lance. This isn’t energetic annoying Lance or flirty Lance either. This is...Lance at peace. Lance who maybe has a bit of a sadness in his smile but he’s calm and focused. This was the Lance who became his best friend. The one he nursed a stupid crush on because once he trusted you enough to let you see past the bullshit he was kind and fun to be around and really truly believed in the people around him even when they failed again and again.

 

How could Keith have forgotten that Lance?

 

“When he comes to town and you see his face,

And you think you might want to take his place.

Something keeps him drifting miles and miles away,

Searching for the songs to play.”

 

Memory works in funny ways. We tend to remember the highs and lows, not the peaceful times. But now, confronted with it, Keith was reminded of quiet afternoons he spent on the Castleship with Lance for company, coming up with ways to keep themselves occupied until the next crisis hit.

 

Until he ruined it all, at least according to Pidge.

 

“He’s good.” Kinkade said quietly. “I never knew he played.”

 

“Lance was always full of hidden talents.” Keith replied, trying to swallow a dry throat. “Half the time, they seemed kind of useless. But he always managed to find his way out of every situation he got in.”

 

“Why are you looking for him, Keith?” Nadia asked. “Lance told me you weren’t speaking.”

 

Keith sighed. “I screwed up.” he admitted. “A lot of things. And he’s been gone for months. I just want to make sure he’s okay.”

 

Nadia rose an eyebrow. “And then what?”

 

He still had no idea.

 

“Look, I’m not sure where he went.” Nadia sighed. “He came here with me a few weeks ago and then took off. Honestly, it’s a bit of a relief. He was so weird about making sure no one knew where he was. I couldn’t tell people things we were up to until after we left. And he’d disappear for like a whole day and just...turn up like nothing was wrong.”

 

Keith frowned.

 

“For a while I thought he was on a mission, but that didn’t make sense. Shiro would beg him to say where he was but...I don’t know. It was strange.” She shook her head. “He seemed happy, though. If that’s what you’re worried about. He missed you, but he was happy.”

 

“He missed me?”

 

She smiled now. “Yeah. He’d never say it, but he’d tell me when something reminded him of you. And a lot of things reminded him of you.”

 

Keith stared at his empty drink. If Lance missed him, why wouldn’t he let someone know where he was? By now Shiro had probably told him that Keith was looking for him. More likely Pidge had.

 

“You know, Hunk could probably point you in the right direction.” Nadia suggested. “He’s known Lance the longest, right? He could probably tell you why he was acting weird better than I could.”

 

Keith frowned. She was right, of course. But he would rather have a solid lead.

 

“You’re sure you don’t know where he was heading?”

 

She shook her head. “Sorry.”

 

“He likes aliases.”

 

Keith and Nadia looked over at Kinkade in surprise.

 

“He calls himself Ziggy Stardust when he plays guitar, right?” Kinkade shrugged. “And during the war, his call name was Sharpshooter, when the rest of you went by the colors of your armor. Different aliases for different roles. If I were you, I’d look for those. It would be easier to find than Lance the Human.”

 

“Huh.” Keith frowned. “Thanks, Kinkade.”

 

Kinkade shrugged and fished a piece of fruit out of the bottom of his glass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cake is one of my favorite bands. There's nothing quite like them. And let's be frank - in the event of an apocalypse, it's going to be some weird music nerd's collection that survives.


	4. Chapter 4

_Keith sat in the lounge alone, carefully cleaning his luxite blade. Lance had declared him boring half an hour ago and disappeared, most likely to take care of the chores Coran had assigned him for the day._

 

_“Hey, Keith.”_

 

_Keith jumped and almost cut himself on the never-dulling blade. Hunk was standing in the doorway, clearly with no idea he almost caused Keith to bleed out._

 

_“We’re stopping near a swap moon, and Pidge and I were going to get some supplies and...well, if you wanted to come, maybe see about Shiro…”_

 

_Keith nodded. “Uh...yeah. That would be great.”_

 

_“And...if you wanna invite Lance...see if he wants to come…”_

 

_Why the hell is Keith the one inviting Lance? Isn’t Hunk his best friend? Why would Keith be more likely to bring Lance along? And he’d have to track him down on the huge empty ship now. Which, okay, he knew where he most likely was but still. It was just plain weird._

 

_“Yeah. Um, I’ll do that.”_

 

_Hunk gave him a blinding grin. “Great. We’re meeting at the shuttles in twenty minutes.”_

 

_Hunk disappeared, and Keith blinked at his blade like it was a severed arm. What the...what was going on? He had definitely missed something._

 

~*~

 

**Altea**

 

Keith checked in with the Blade for several reasons. First, because he had to get his new identification codes and relieve Rey’un of his duties for a few days to calm her down. Second, because he wanted to look into the alias idea Kinkade had given him. Third, because he wasn’t avoiding talking to Hunk but he needed time to prepare for it. Though really, he didn’t know what to expect.

 

Hunk knew Lance longer than the rest of them. He knew how to read his moods, he knew how to see through the constant smoke screens. He’d know where Lance’s heart was at, at the very least.

 

He took his time, though. He kept his ears open for The Guitar Man, or Ziggy Stardust, or just a human traveling around and playing guitar, to no avail. The Universe was keeping Lance’s secrets for now.

 

When he did leave to meet up with Hunk, it was after a week of searching and laying out enough orders to keep the Blade busy for two weeks. He told Rey’un to keep an eye on the operatives and told the operatives to keep an eye on Rey’un and figured if they managed to destroy themselves before he got back then there probably wasn’t much he could have done about it anyway.

 

Why had he ever agreed to this position? Kolivan had basically dumped it on his lap and he only accepted it because he had thought he’d be able to talk Lance out of retirement. There had been a time when all it took to get Lance to do something was to tell him he couldn’t.

 

Hunk and Shay had taken a side trip to Altea, where they kept a house they hoped to settle in some day. Shay greeted him at the door with a warm smile and open arms.

 

“It’s so good to see you.” he told her.

 

“You too!” she released Keith to greet Cosmo with an ear scratch. “I’m glad you’re finally taking some time off.”

 

“Uh, yeah.” Keith scratched the back of his head. He didn’t think this really qualified as a vacation - Lance was too stressful to be involved in Keith’s vacation. “I heard you guys just got back from your family?”

 

“Yes! We were celebrating Rit-Kashen. But, well, I’m glad to be home, even for a bit. Families, you know.”

 

Yeah, Keith knew. He may only know for the last few years but he knew.

 

“Hunk was so happy when you messaged to say you were coming.” she added in an undertone, shuffling him further into the house. “He still doesn’t get along much with my brother and we barely see you. Everyone else we see because of work.”

 

“Does Lance come by often?”

 

The question is out of his mouth before Keith can stop it, but Shay just smiles kindly. “We did. Not since he went traveling but he’d make a point to stop in when we were here.”

 

Hunk entered the room and immediately wrapped Keith in an enthusiastic hug. Keith laughed and hugged him back, patting the huge guy on the back.

 

“I’m so glad you’re here!” Hunk said, pulling away. “Oh, my God, is that a sunburn? Who are you?”

 

“I was on Trottenham IV, trying to track down Lance.”

 

Hunk’s smile became a little less wide. “Yeah, I heard about that. Come on, you look hungry.”

 

“I’m not - “

 

“I’m just in the middle of making some crepes with some preserves I made a while ago.”

 

Keith was already being dragged off, and Shay called after them that she’d be in the bedroom unpacking. Hunk immediately resumed his station at the counter, mixing the large stainless steel bowl. Keith dithered for a moment before sliding onto a stool on the other side of the counter.

 

“So.” Hunk said lightly. “How’ve you been?”

 

“Good. You?”

 

“We’ve been alright. Work hasn’t been quite as busy lately. Shiro basically told me I should take time off now, since I’ll be on call more when he’s on his honeymoon. We were thinking of heading to Earth for a bit, but honestly I just want to relax at home a bit.”

 

“Sorry for intruding.”

 

“I didn’t mean it like that.” Hunk protested hastily. “Besides, how long were we stuck on the Castle of Lions with only the seven of us? It’s almost comforting, having someone around. You know?”

 

Keith didn’t know. Maybe he had been on his own for too long.

 

“Oh, that reminds me.” Keith dug in his jacket pocket and pulled out the small white envelope he had been carrying with him since his visit to Earth. “Pidge says, you win.”

 

Hunk frowned and put down his whisk for the envelope. He opened it and shook a credit chip into his hand.

 

“Huh.” he said. “I thought she forgot.”

 

“What’s it for?”

 

“We made a bet. A long time ago.” He sighed and stuffed the credit chip into his pocket. “She say anything else?”

 

“She told me Rizavi might know where Lance was. It’s why I was on Trottenham IV.”

 

Hunk hummed.

 

“She told me not to go looking for him.”

 

“You shouldn’t.” Hunk immediately agreed.

 

“Why does everyone say that?”

 

“Because he doesn’t want to be found.” Hunk turned to dig in a cupboard. “Lance needed time to...get his head in order. After Allura left. And now he’s out there doing all the things he always wanted to do, and we need to let him.”

 

“It’s dangerous for him to travel alone.” Keith argued.

 

“And he’s always been very good at getting himself, as well as the rest of us, out of bad situations.” Hunk fixed him with a stern look. “You’ve always seen what you wanted to see in Lance. He doesn’t need rescuing, or saving.”

 

“I know that.” Keith grumbled.

 

“Then why are you looking for him?”

 

Keith scowled at his hands. Hunk finally found the pan he was looking for and put it on the stove top.

 

“You know, you should be happy he’s doing this.” Hunk said casually. “I think it means he’s finally starting to get get over Allura.”

 

“I don’t care about him and Allura.” Keith instantly said, feeling for all the world like he was again, eighteen. Again, on the castle-ship. Again, everyone assuming the wrong things. “You sound like Pidge. She’s convinced we were in love or something.”

 

Hunk silently rubbed the hot inside of the pan with butter.

 

“Oh, God - “

 

“For what it’s worth, I thought it was a bad idea.” Hunk said. “In fact, I encouraged him to go after Allura to keep him away from you.”

 

Keith felt his heart stop. Hunk was saying it so plainly and matter of fact, and Keith’s chest _hurt_. And he didn’t know why. And it was a betrayal, but he’d never admit that.

 

Because Hunk - kind, accepting Hunk - was sitting there saying he purposefully kept his best friend away from him. Because maybe every reason that ever made Keith close himself off from Lance was true. Maybe he was just rage and black eyes and bloody knuckles that couldn’t touch something as brilliant as Lance. And the stakes were too high, and the universe was too big. And Allura shone just as bright as Lance did.

 

“I’m sorry.” Hunk said quietly. “But...I just...we were all so young and I thought that you’d end up hurting each other so...I mean, for example, if you had gotten together back then, wouldn’t you have always wondered about him and Allura?”

 

Keith looked away. He was right. Jealousy was second nature.

 

“And I mean...when you left, it tore him apart. Even if you were just gone for a few vargas on a Blade misson he was always so worried.”

 

“It doesn’t matter.” Keith said, trying to hide the roughness in his throat. “It’s in the past.”

 

“For what it’s worth, I didn’t think it would last with Allura either.” Hunk said, using a spatula to flip his crepe. “I thought he’d have to get together with her so he could get over it, but I didn’t think it would last.”

 

“He loved her.” Keith reminded.

 

“Lance always thought...well, his mother always said falling in love was about finding your best friend. I mean, yeah, he loved Allura, but she wasn’t his best friend. I don’t mean to speak ill of the dead, but...she was kind of selfish. With Lance, at least. She took a lot from him, and I’m not really sure what he actually got in return.”

 

Keith gaped at him as he was served a crepe folded in on itself, and a jar of strawberry preserved were pushed towards him. He had...okay, he’d be lying if he hadn’t thought something similar. But he’d never thought anyone would speak so candidly about the princess.

 

“I mean, I’m not saying she was bad to him, or anything.” Hunk continued. “Just...unfair. And I think that if she had lived...well, she wanted to stay on Altea, right? With her people. Lance couldn’t sit still to save his life.”

 

“That’s not true.” Keith said instantly, and regretted it even faster.

 

Hunk rose an eyebrow.

 

“We spent a lot of time just...sitting.” Keith mumbled.

 

So much of their time on the castle-ship was wrapped up in fighting and training and races and chores but there was stillness, too. They used to watch old Altean movies and argue about if it was a drama or a thriller because they couldn’t tell. And they’d sit in the observatory and watch the stars and argue about whatever was on Lance’s mind that day. And if Keith was up in the middle of the night, sometimes Lance would be up too for a snack and they’d sit quietly. And when Pidge found a way to charge Lance’s old phone for him they spent a whole afternoon going through all his old photos and Lance told him every story and for once he didn’t mind that Lance had a loving family and he didn’t because…

 

Because…

 

“For the record, I didn’t bet against you.” Hunk was saying. “I just said, you weren’t ready. Neither of you were. And I don’t think I was wrong.”

 

“No, you weren’t.” Keith agreed quietly.

 

Hunk made more crepes, and Keith silently ate. It didn’t feel like betrayal, but something had changed. Like a stone that was holding something back in his chest had moved, and now there was a rawness in his throat and a deep, hurting sadness that he had buried for a reason and now it was just...back.

 

“I’m sorry, Keith.” Hunk said quietly. “I know all of this is in the past but...I know it hurts to hear anyway.”

 

“It’s alright.” Keith said, steeling his nerves. “Besides, it doesn’t change the fact that...I haven’t been a great friend to him and...I want to apologize.”

 

Hunk nodded. “You know, I said a lot about how unfair Allura was but...I don’t know. Maybe none of us were. We never gave him a chance. And maybe with everything that happened...I know he talks to Shiro a lot but...I kind of assumed he’d talk to you.”

 

“Why would he?” Keith frowned. “You’re his best friend.”

 

“Yeah, but...he stopped coming to me with problems. Maybe he never did in the first place.”

 

Hunk looked guilty, and Keith looked away.

 

“Keith, I don’t know where Lance is.” Hunk said softly. “And no, I don’t think you should go after him. I think he needs time away from us. But I know I can’t stop you, so maybe you should talk to his sister.”

 

Keith frowned. “Veronica has not idea where he is.”

 

“Not Veronica.” Hunk shook his head. “He’s...got the most in common with Veronica, but he’d never tell her where he is. She’d drag him home. No, if anyone knows, it’ll be Rachel. His twin.”

 

Keith should have thought of that. Of course Rachel would know. Though he had only met her like once and he remembered her being very quiet and impossible to read.

 

“Where is she? On the farm?”

 

Hunk sighed. “Keith, how far are you willing to go for this?”

 

“Why are you asking?”

 

“Rachel is...an interesting character.”

 

Keith stared at his friend blankly, and Hunk sighed.

 

“You’ll find her on Rath Varis.”

 

...oh.

 

If Trottenham IV was a place of touristy, but wholesome, family fun, Rath Varis was the unwanted love child of the darkest alleys of Vegas and New Orleans with the story line of The Cask of Amontillado. It was a place of drug dens, whore houses, and gambling rooms, where black market traders met and any job could be done for a price. It had operated firmly outside of Galra control, probably because most warlords stimulated the economy on both business and pleasure trips. Keith had been a number of times and it was not his favorite place.

 

Not to mention, it was in the Xylos Sector. Where the recent pirate attacks had been. The pirates could be using the lawless planet as a base of operations, even if that seemed too simple of an answer. It would still be dangerous.

 

He couldn’t imagine how Rachel McClain fit into that world.

 

“I’m sure she’ll see you but...I doubt she’ll tell you how to find Lance. Shiro tried, and she wouldn’t budge.”

 

“Well, I have to try.” Keith said quietly.

 

“Yeah.” Hunk agreed, finally turning off his stove. “I suppose you do.”

 

Keith stood to help Hunk clean up, and when they were done they walked back into the living room. Shay had made up a bed on the couch for Keith and disappeared again.

 

“Hunk, what were the terms of the bet?” Keith asked, sitting on the couch.

 

Hunk sighed. “Well, Pidge bet that you and Lance would get together before the war ended. And I said it wouldn’t be till after. And...Matt said he’d end up with Allura.”

 

Keith frowned. “But...why didn’t you pay Matt when he started dating Allura?”

 

“Because. I thought neither of you were ready then. And I told you, it never would have worked out with her. Not in the long run.” Hunk turned away. “Sleep well, buddy.”

 

“Yeah. You too.”

 

Hunk disappeared upstairs, and Keith stretched out on the couch. If Pidge was paying Hunk...how had he won?

 

~*~

 

Keith didn’t sleep much, and when he woke up it was still dark. There was a light on in the kitchen, and Shay moved to the door.

 

“Sorry.” she whispered.

 

“It’s alright. Wasn’t sleeping much anyway.”

 

“I’ll get you a coffee.”

 

She moved away and Keith looked at the time and groaned. On the floor, Cosmo sprawled out and chased something in his dream. Shay came back in and Keith sat up and folded his legs under him, leaving room for Shay to sit. He accepted the coffee with mumbled thanks and took a sip.

 

Perfection.

 

“Will you go to Rath Varis?” Shay asked.

 

“I have to find Lance.” Keith shrugged. “Rachel might know where he is. Rachel is on Rath Varis. God knows why, but she is. So I’ll go.”

 

Shay smiled slightly. “Well, I think it’s sweet.”

 

Keith rose his eyebrows. “You want me to find him?”

 

“Why not? If you have something to tell him, you should tell him. Besides, I think he’s doing this because he wants to be found.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

She sighed. “My grandmother used to tell us this story about a princess. The princess was born with a heart that was too big, and she always wanted to help people. So much that sometimes she forgot to eat and sleep. One day, she met a warlock who made her realize that...though she helped everyone, she didn’t get anything in return. And though she didn’t mind, he could see her future and it would kill her in the end. So he offered to turn her heart into a stone.”

 

“Did she let him?”

 

“She tried, but then she was so unhappy, she died anyway.”

 

Jesus. That was a classic Brothers Grimm story if he ever heard one.

 

“I think Lance is like the princess, in some ways. I think he followed the people he loves all the way to the end of the universe. And right now he just wants to see who loves him enough to follow him back.” she looked away. “Hunk doesn’t like that idea, but sometimes...I think it’s easy to forget how much we rely on the people who are always there to catch us, you know?”

 

Keith looked at the inky blackness in his mug. “I don’t even know why I’m looking for him.” he admitted quietly.

 

“I think you do. I think the problem is what it’s always been. You’re afraid.”

 

“I - “

 

“It’s alright.” she smiled kindly. “We’re all a little afraid of what we’ll find at the end of the journey.”

 

Then Hunk entered the room, and Shay abandoned her opinion to start making breakfast - reheated crepes and eggs and something that tasted like sausage, though Keith had never actually tasted sausage due to the hog shortage on Earth before his birth that resulted in a ban on their slaughter. So it was imitation sausage that tasted like imitation sausage.

 

He’d need his energy if he was going to a black market planet surrounded by pirates. To deal with a McClain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this is a little sloppy, and a little shorter than normal. I wanted to get you guys a new chapter and I've been kind of busy so I banged most of this out in like 4 hours. If you guys find too many issues with it I'll rewrite it. 
> 
> Also, 1) I don't hate Allura. 2) I don't think she was toxic for Lance. 
> 
> I'm of the opinion that the story line was rushed and they were bad for each other, but it was also something that Lance would have to do to fully get over it. And, well...I tried to have Hunk convey a lot of it. 
> 
> Next stop, Rachel McClain.


	5. Chapter 5

_ Keith was looking for Acxa when he came across Lance in the courtyard with his sister. Rebecca, he thought, or something like that. Lance was sitting with a guitar and his sister stood over him with her arms crossed. He had that tone to his voice that was painfully familiar from a different lifetime. Goading.  _

 

_ “Come on, Rachel. Not like anyone’s here.” Lance was teasing. _

 

_ “I haven’t played in years, Lance.” she sighed. “I probably don’t remember how.” _

 

_ “Why’d you stop?” _

 

_ “Cause you were gone.” _

 

_ Sadness filled Lance’s face, then was gone. He grinned brightly. “Well, I’m back now, so you can play again. It’s like riding a bike.” _

 

_ “No.” _

 

_ “Come onnnnn. I spent all that time, learning the song. Not even my type of music. For you, so we could sing together - “ _

 

_ Rachel groaned, and broke. She sat next to her brother and leaned down to pick up a second guitar. She settled in and quickly made sure it was tuned. Lance counted off a beat and began to strum, then smiled as Rachel played along with him.  _

 

_ “No.” _

 

_ “ _ No. _ ” _

 

_ “It’s not what we meant to say.” _

 

_ “ _ Not what we meant to say.”

 

_ “ _ **_We don’t really love each other._ ** _ ” _

 

_ “What happens when the summer’s over?” _

 

_ “ _ What happens when distance becomes a chore?”

 

_ “ _ **_I’m approaching with -_ ** _ ” _

 

_ “ - great - ” _

 

_ “ _ \- great - ”

 

“ **_\- trepidation. I hope you understand._ ** _ ” _

 

_ Rachel was bent over the guitar with a slight frown that mirrored her brother’s, keeping an eye on the tab sheets spread on the ground in front of them. Lance looked over at her and gave a tiny, sad smile.  _

 

_ “Before you speak.” _

 

_ “ _ Before you speak.”

 

_ “Think about what you're trying to say.” _

 

_ “ _ You’re trying to say.”

 

“ **_Who else is there to blame for miscommunication?_ ** _ ” _

 

_ “You're getting caught up in the excitement.” _

 

_ “ _ You're making promises you can't keep.”

 

“ **_You need to leave all your options open._ ** _ ” _

 

_ They sounded great, in spite of Rachel claiming she hadn’t played in years. Now she looked up at her brother and let herself grin as they broke into the chorus.  _

 

_ “ _ **_Too much momentum._ **

**_This room feels like it’s going to explode._ **

**_Too many angles._ **

**_Too many factors to cover._ **

**_Waiting for signal._ **

**_You're searching for a network._ **

**_You’ve gotta fight to stay in control of the situation._ ** _ ” _

 

_ Lance looked so happy. Brilliant. Taking the lead, as he always did without even realizing. And Rachel was just...happy to be there. Happy to have him.  _

 

_ Keith wondered if he looked like that around Lance. _

 

_ The hole in his chest ached, so he turned away and left them to their song. _

 

~*~

 

Keith walked down the street in the capital city of Rath Varis, hood up and head down. He had left Cosmo on his ship, wanting to be as inconspicuous as possible. Rath Varis was...not the kindest of places. 

 

Dirty, he thinks. Rath Veris is filthy and looks worse due to the constant cloud cover. The only light comes from dim street lamps and neon signs and screens that advertise private dances and sex and hallucinogens. Every business has security screening, some had armed guards. Keith passed a few darker doorways that lead underground, to weapons dealers, and were more easily defended than the neon-lit penthouses of pretty boys and girls. 

 

Some people walked down the street. Some stumbled. More than a few sat on the ground with empty expressions. 

 

Keith has no idea what he’s doing. He had stopped and asked a few people for Rachel McClain, but no one was giving him a straight answer. Lance’s name gives him nothing - no one knows that name. Rachel’s name...he’s not getting answers but he’s getting fear. Averted eyes and half gestures deeper into the city. 

 

“Please.” a pink-skinned woman with cracked green lips whispered, reaching out for Keith. “I can give you pretties.” 

 

As Keith watches, a crystal flower blooms in her hand. He wonders if the woman is pulling water from the air to create it, or moving the air itself. Bending light. She offers the mirage to him, a gift he cannot keep. 

 

“Credits for pretties?” 

 

Keith walks on. 

 

The street is getting busier, and the buildings are more crowded. He feels a light hand on his back and he grabs behind him to break fingers, but the would-be thief is gone and his knife is still strapped to his waist. He wasn’t stupid enough to carry physical credits here. 

 

A flash of blue eyes. 

 

Keith stops short and looks up at a building he’s almost walked by. The walls on either side of the door are covered in large continuous screens, bright and blinding. And there’s Lance. Suddenly, Lance. Tall and lanky, sharp grin and piercing eyes, looking right at Keith. 

 

And Christ, he’s barely wearing anything. Just impossibly tight short-shorts and a loose crop top that doesn’t seem to want to actually function as a shirt. His legs are in some...impossible position Keith could never hope to imitate. And he’s still in incredible shape. Spinning around a silver pole and making it look effortless, like he’s floating or attached to strings. 

 

When the hell did Lance learn how to do that? 

 

The image winks out and Lance is replaced by a lithe Galra woman, executing a controlled tumble down a red silk banner. Keith suddenly realizes...well, he’s drooling a little. 

 

Above the door is a sign that flashes several languages at him, and he naturally picks out the Galran. It’s not a word he recognizes, then he realizes it’s phonetic. Letters arranged to sound like  _ Azul _ . 

 

Keith barely thinks as he walks towards the door. Inside is dark and hushed, a small antechamber with only the exit behind him and a set of stairs before him. To his left, a low couch and a huge mirror. To his right, a security window. The sign next to the window tells him the cover charge and to check his weapons with the attendant when he pays. 

 

“We’re closed.” 

 

The attendant doesn’t look at him, just hold up a newspaper with four long arms ending in pincers. Eight eyes circled his pale head. Keith approached the window. 

 

“I’m looking for Rachel McClain.” he said. 

 

The attendant snorted. “Doesn’t change the fact that we’re closed.”

 

“Is she here?” 

 

“Never heard of her.” 

 

“Really? Cause her brother’s spreading his legs on the front of the building.”

 

Well, that came out a lot more crude than he intended. He had never been great with words. He wondered what Lance would have done if he heard him. Smack him, probably. 

 

The attendant eyed him now. “Senorita doesn’t take clients.” 

 

“I’m not looking for a dance.” Keith growled. “I just need to speak with her.” 

 

“We’re still closed.”

 

Keith shot a hand through the window and grabbed the back of the attendant’s head and shoved his face down onto the window frame. Six pincers grabbed at his arm, and Keith gritted his teeth at the pain and pressed down harder, ignoring the attendant’s grunts. 

 

“I need to speak to Rachel.” Keith snarled. 

 

“She’ll see you.” 

 

Keith turned to see a petite curvy woman on the stairs, dressed in loose sweats and long dark hair tied up and strays held out of her eyes with a sweatband. Huge gossamer wings extended over her shoulders and brushed against the walls of the stairwell. She blinked at him with too-big eyes. 

 

“Well?” 

 

Keith released the attendant and nodded at him. Eight eyes focused at him. Keith walked towards the stairs. The woman turned slightly but stared at him as he approached. 

 

“Keith, right?” she asked. “I’m Alana.” 

 

“Rachel knew I was coming?” he guessed. 

 

Her smile held mischief. “Lance told me about you.” She started up the stairs. “Come on. Senorita is a very busy woman.” 

 

It was a short flight of stairs that opened up to a large dimly lit room. A large well-lit stage reached out into a sea of small tables. The far side of the room seemed to be dedicated to game tables. Closer to Keith was a wall of private booths. Two other dancers were up on the stage stretching out their limbs. On the opposite wall a bar stretched from one side of the room to the other. 

 

“Lance was here?” Keith asked. 

 

“I’m not supposed to say.” Alana smiled. “Have a seat. You can watch me practice.” 

 

“Uh…” 

 

“Alana, honey, I think he’d rather watch me.” A white-haired Altean boy cat-called from the stage. “Hey, pretty-boy, wanna see a show?” 

 

Keith felt an involuntary flush on his face. 

 

“Triste, leave him alone.” a quiet voice commanded. 

 

The dancers all straightened up, and Keith turned around to see Rachel standing at the bar. She looked very different from the last time he had seen her, miles away from the quiet girl he had met during the invasion. She wore a navy satin shirt and grey pants, and her hair was shiny and straight. 

 

It was...not what he had expected. But then, he didn’t expect to walk into a building because he had seen a video of his former best friend with his legs pretzeled around a silver pole. On a planet ruled by sex trade and the last place he expected to be looking for any of the McClains. So really...maybe he needed to stop assuming things. 

 

“Keith.” she greeted. 

 

“Hey, Rachel.” 

 

“Can I get you a drink?” 

 

Keith hesitated for a moment. He would probably need it. “Sure.” 

 

She nodded and moved to step behind her bar. Alana turned and walked towards the stage, her wings sparkling as they caught the light. Keith slowly approached the bar, where Rachel was pulling a bottle down from the shelf. She didn’t speak as she poured two healthy glasses of bourbon. In fact, she barely looked at him. 

 

_ Rachel was always the quiet one _ , he remembered Lance telling him.

 

Rachel may be quiet, but she had a presence. When she walked into a room, you felt it. Her quiet voice commanded and left no room for questions or hesitation. 

 

“What are you doing here?” Keith blurted. 

 

“I could ask you the same thing.” she replied coolly. 

 

“I’m looking for your brother.” 

 

Rachel sipped her drink and stared past Keith at the dancers. 

 

“I know he was here, Rachel.” Keith sighed. “And I don’t care if he doesn’t want to be found. I need to talk to him.” 

 

“Well, he’s not here now.” Rachel mumbled. 

 

“But you know where he is.” 

 

Silence again. 

 

“So, what?” Keith asked, hearing an anger in his voice and having no idea where it was coming from. “Was he dancing for you?” 

 

Rachel rose an eyebrow at him. “He helped me open this place.” 

 

Keith stared at his drink. 

 

“He danced once or twice. Did the videos for a promo. Abuela used to say, God skipped over Marco with the brains, and Lance with the shame.” Rachel paused, smiling slightly at a distant memory. “Mostly he just...helped me bribe the right people. Acted as my bodyguard. He’d play guitar once a week. People loved it.” 

 

Keith sipped, considering. It wasn’t impossible to imagine Lance in any of these roles. 

 

“What are you even doing here, Rachel?” he asked. “This whole planet is a cesspool.” 

 

Rachel fixed him with a hard look. “Why shouldn’t I be here?” 

 

“I - “

 

“I don’t know what pretty lies Lance has told you, but in our family, we do what has to be done.” she snapped. “The farm is barely breaking even, Marco has his kids to worry about, Luis is about to get married, God knows what Veronica is up to with Acxa. Lance has had enough responsibility for a lifetime. Someone has to take care of my parents!” 

 

“So you opened a strip club?” Keith asked incredulously. 

 

Rachel glowered. “It’s just a club.” 

 

Keith jestured behind him, where the male dancer, Triste, was gyrating against the pole at the end of the stage. 

 

“Don’t be such a prude.” Rachel snapped. “Honestly, Keith. We’re a blue-eyed Cuban family with the last name McClain. There’s pirate blood in there somewhere.” 

 

Keith looked away. 

 

“I run a cleaner operation than most. I don’t allow hard drugs to be sold or used here. If my staff wants to be paid for extra services, that’s on them. And thanks to Lance’s reputation, and mine, no one touches what doesn’t belong to them.” 

 

There was a fury in Rachel’s voice and her eyes were made of steel. And there was so much...Lance in her. Not sides of Lance that Keith had seen often but it was the same stubbornness. And the same protectiveness. 

 

“Signorita?”

 

Rachel turned away from Keith and walked to the end of the bar, where a delivery man was waiting with a clipboard. She immediately began inspecting the boxes he was unloading with a frown, ignoring the bored expression on his face. Keith finished his drink, and reached for the bottle to pour himself another one. 

 

God damn McClains. 

 

Rachel looked a little calmer when she returned. This time, she sat on Keith’s side of the bar, turning her body to face him. 

 

“You’re not here to argue my life choices.” Rachel sighed. “Why do you want to find my brother?” 

 

Keith stared at his drink. 

 

She sighed and tilted her head. “I mean, this is a pretty grand gesture just for an apology for some stupid fight.”

 

“I have a lot to apologize for.” Keith muttered. “I realize that now. I haven’t been the greatest friend to him.” 

 

“Friend, huh?” 

 

Keith sealed his lips. 

 

“You know, when we were growing up, everyone always thought Lance and I were complete opposites.” Rachel sipped her drink. “That I was quiet and guarded, and Lance was loud and expressive. But I always thought we were more alike than everyone realized. We just hid our feelings in different ways. I like to bury things, pretend I didn’t feel. Lance puts on a show.” 

 

“Doesn’t seem healthy.” 

 

She smiled slightly. “Well, Lance tells me you’re a firm believer in burying. So, cheers.” 

 

They clinked their glasses and drank. 

 

“Will you tell me where he is?” Keith asked.

 

Rachel tilted her head and considered him. “That depends on if you can give me a good reason to.” 

 

Keith opened and closed his mouth. Rachel sighed and patted him on the shoulder. 

 

“Think about it. Get a hotel room, get some sleep. Come back and see me tomorrow night.” 

 

“But - “ 

 

“Keith.” Rachel’s voice is firm, but kind. “You look like you haven’t slept in a year. I’ve got a club to run. And you...you need to think about what you want from my brother.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...yeah. Left field, I will admit. I wanted to do something with the 'stripper-Lance' trope and when trying to figure out how I wanted to do Rachel, I wanted a kind of 'watch out for the quiet ones' thing. And I wanted her to kind of mirror Keith in some ways, which isn't really clear now but it will be later. Also, I figured no one else had done anything like this so...yay? Any ideas for Lance's stripper name?
> 
> Anyway, Keith's finally going to have some serious introspection. And Rachel's position as a somewhat-feared madame is going to tie back in later, when Lance is actually in the story (it's coming, I promise). 
> 
> The song Rachel and Lance sing in Keith's memory is "Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart" by Against Me. It's a really nice duet.


	6. Chapter 6

_ “This is my cousin Joel, and his baby Trinity. She calls me Ants, and it’s the cutest thing ever.”  _

 

_ Keith smiled slightly. “Ants?”  _

 

_ “Yeah. Like...she couldn’t say her L’s so for a while it was Ance and that turned into Ants...it’s adorable okay, Keith!” _

 

_ Lance scowled and hunched over defensively, and Keith chuckled. “Come on, Lance. I’m just messing with you.”  _

 

_ Lance looked like he was going to put away his phone for a moment. But Keith took a chance and leaned closer. “Come on, show me more.”  _

 

_ Lance looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, then sighed and swiped across his phone screen. Another photo of him and Rachel. It was the fourth so far today. In this one, they were bundled up in matching scarves and hats and hugging each other tightly. Rachel’s smile was tight lipped and toothless, but her eyes were crinkled and shining.  _

 

_ “This was...we were fourteen, I think.” Lance frowned. “We went to New York City for Christmas vacation. Did the tree and everything. It snowed the whole time. Veronica would not stop bitching.”  _

 

_ Lance’s eyes hungrily travelled over his sister’s face. Keith chewed on his lip.  _

 

_ “You must miss her the most.” he muttered.  _

 

_ “Yeah.” Lance frowned. “Cept it’s more like...I woke up in the morning without an arm. Rachel’s like...a part of my soul, in a way that Veronica and Luis and Marco aren’t. Like when we were made, they ripped one person in half to make two. We’re nothing alike, but she always listens to me about everything and I know she doesn’t want to do a lot of stuff I want to do but she does it for me anyway.” _

 

_ “Like a soul mate?” Keith ventured.  _

 

_ Lance smiled slightly. “Nah. Soul mates are different. Soul mates are...someone who is supposed to be in your life. Doesn’t have to be a lover. Could be a friend. A rival. Just someone who...makes you better, I guess.”  _

 

_ Keith had never thought about it that way. He had never given soul mates in general much thought. Or twins, if he was being honest. Lance had obviously spent a decent amount of time mulling this over.  _

 

_ “Anyway.” Lance coughed. “Rachel’s more like a part of me. And I miss her. Horribly.” He sighed and touched the phone screen so it lit up again. “But in the meantime, I’ll settle for present company.”  _

 

_ “Even if it’s your rival?” Keith smiled.  _

 

_ “Yeah.” Lance smiled back. “I guess a rival’s better than nothing.”  _

 

~*~

 

Keith retrieved Cosmo from his shuttle and checked into one of the more decent hotels. The bed looked clean, at least. A wall of windows looked out into smog and city lights. The other wall was covered in a huge mirror with a perfect view of the bed. Great. 

 

Keith found a bar up the street that was serving something edible, and sat in a corner with his hood up. The bartender watched him curiously as he polished a glass, but looked away when Keith made eye contact. 

 

“Hey.”

 

Keith looked up from his food to see Alana sliding into a bar stool. She had done her makeup since he saw her at the club, and her hair was combed up into a high ponytail with a silver decorative ring. When she leaned forward, Keith could see a beaded purple bikini top under her loose t-shirt from earlier. . 

 

“I wouldn’t drink that if I were you.” she said. 

 

“I have a strong stomach.” Keith told her. 

 

She shrugged, and leaned forward to order. Her gossamer wings brushed against Keith’s shoulder. He wondered if they were decorative, or granted her flight. 

 

“I always need a drink before I go onstage.” she told him. “I was so scared the first few times. I'm not scared anymore. But the drink is habit.” 

 

“Why do you do it?” 

 

“Dance?” Alana tipped her head and considered him. “I dance because men and women pay me to. Lance danced because he wanted to feel something.”

 

“I didn’t -”

 

“Yeah, you did.” she smiled. “I think it's sweet, that you want to understand him.”

 

Keith sipped his drink. Was that what he was doing? Just wading in the wake of Lance’s chaos, trying to see things a little clearer. 

 

“Lance only danced a few times.” Alana smiled, repeating what Rachel said before. “Mostly, when he visited, he’d coach me.”

 

“How often did he visit?” 

 

“Mmm...every couple of movements. Helped Senorita with stuff. Then he just...stopped. Senorita told us he was figuring things out. She seemed really happy for him. What did you fight about?” 

 

“Nothing.” Keith said quickly. 

 

“He seemed pretty upset for a fight about nothing.” 

 

Keith frowned at his food and poked it. It was reminiscent of the Altean goo, though maybe this was a little sturdier. 

 

“I asked him to help me with something.” Keith told her slowly. “He turned me down and I got upset. I said some...not so nice things. And now I’m starting to realize that maybe I’ve been worse to him that I thought.” 

 

Alana considered for a moment. “You know, whenever Lance talked about you, he always sounded so sad. For a while, I thought you had died or something.”

 

“Sad?” Keith echoed. 

 

“Like...I don’t know. It’s hard to explain.” She sipped her drink. “You know when people talk about their childhood pets? Or something important that they lost? Lance always made it sound like...he let you slip away, or something. Then you fought, and he didn’t talk about you at all.” 

 

Keith threaded his fingers through his hair. Why...how did he let this happen? How had it gone on for so long? Was he really so self-centered? He never used to think so. He used to be so wrapped up in not getting attached and doing what he thought was best for Lance he never once considered…

 

Lance always acted like he didn’t need anything. Like Keith was just tagging along. Except…

 

Except he showed Keith all those photos of his family, and told him about them, and he knew Lance would find a way to get rid of him if he didn’t want to share. And Keith had always assumed Lance came to him with problems because Hunk was unavailable but that apparently hadn’t been the case either. 

 

Pidge had said it destroyed him when Keith left. And everything had gone sideways with Shiro and Lotor and Keith had been so convinced there just wasn’t time for what he wanted. What Pidge was convinced Lance wanted. 

 

So Lance looked somewhere else. 

 

And a year ago, Keith was said horrible things about Allura because of what Lance had become. Because he had been such a shell of himself. But if Pidge was right...maybe there had been a time when Keith had caused that too. 

 

“Senorita says she won’t tell you where he is because you don’t know what you want, and because of that you’ve always hurt him.” Alana said, breaking into Keith’s thoughts. “But I think Lance wants to talk to you, even if you hurt him. He misses you too much.” 

 

Keith shoved away his bowl. “Then why is everyone so hellbent on keeping me away from him?” 

 

“Maybe they don’t understand.” Alana shrugged. “You know, my people believe that there’s these...unbreakable bonds between people. That no matter what happens, you carry certain people with you all your life. They can fill different roles but they’re always going to be there.” 

 

Keith sighed. “Lance believed something like that too. He thought it was someone who made you better than the day before.” 

 

“And what do you believe?” 

 

Keith hesitated. In spite of several religious foster homes he wasn’t on speaking terms with God, and the vastness of the universe, he knew first hand, was terrifying and impossible. He had learned that science and magic can go hand in hand, but he didn’t understand how. 

 

He didn’t know why, but when he was eighteen a blue eyed Cuban boy with pirate blood hijacked his rescue mission. Someone who led him to all the answers he ever needed. And as much as he hated to admit it, Keith still needed answers. 

 

“I believe that things happen for a reason, and every cause has an effect.” Keith admitted. “And I...gave up on him. On us. And I’d give anything to take it back.” 

 

Alana smiled slightly. “Well, that’s a good start. But...that’s just a cause. That’s the bond. What do you want the effect to be?” 

 

Keith looked away. 

 

“You do know.” she told him. “You just don’t want to admit it. What’s so bad about going after what you want?” 

 

Everything, a part of Keith thinks.

 

Alana stood and knocked back the rest of her drink. “My shift is starting soon. I’ll see you tomorrow, when you give Senorita your answer.”

 

Keith didn’t say goodbye as she left. He silently paid and followed her out the door. 

 

Night had fallen, making the neon lights somehow brighter. Prostitutes had taken to the street and clustered in small groups, lazily trading gossip and posing, pretending not to care and trying to catch eyes. 

 

Keith kept his head down, and nearly missed his hotel as a result.

 

In his room, Cosmo was happy to see him. Keith kicked off his shoes and mindlessly scratched the wolf behind his ears, sitting on the edge of the bed and looking out the window. Across the street, a young Olkari stood on a balcony and smoked something that made him exhale green sparks. Keith was glad he hadn’t turned on the lights in his room, and therefore couldn’t be seen. His head was a million miles away, anyway. 

 

What did he want? What did he want from Lance? Everyone expected an answer and yet he was still coming up short. 

 

He wanted his right hand back. That was what started this whole mess. He wanted a second in command who filled the gaps that Keith couldn’t see. Who he trusted completely. Who could lead in his absence…

 

Lance was more than that. He was always so much more than what people wanted or saw. And Keith spent so long pretending that Lance just tolerated him so that he could avoid being honest about what he wanted. 

 

Not that Lance made it hard to think that. 

 

Why was everyone so concerned with what Keith wanted? What the hell did Lance want? Keith took two years on a space whale to get over him but...for Lance it was a few months. Pidge may have thought she knew what Lance wanted but Lance clearly preferred Allura by the time he got back…

 

Did he though? Keith groped for memories. Lance kept his distance when Keith came back. At least, he had thought he did. But…

 

“ _ I think he’s the future _ .” 

 

Who the hell says something like that? 

 

Maybe someone who was always pretty honest about what he felt. But maybe knew that...being too forward would scare Keith off. 

 

And when he was so busy pretending to not care about the way his heart pounded in his chest when Lance smiled at him, and ignoring the jealousy roaring in his chest when he saw Lance with Allura, and acting like he was fine with just working constantly…

 

Keith was so concerned with protecting himself and Lance had opened a door and left it there. He had never closed it, in spite of everything. Even now. He was out of sight but...no one had told him Lance didn’t want to see him. 

 

_ “Tell him...I don’t know. Tell him something.”  _

 

Shay thought that Lance wanted to be found. What had she said? That he just wanted to see who loved him enough to follow him across the universe. And wasn’t that what Keith was doing? When everyone else thought Lance was best left alone, Keith was the one trying to find him. 

 

Once he thought he knew Lance better than most of their friends. But following in the wake of his vacation - the stolen communicator, the high priest’s son, whatever the hell was going on in Rachel’s club - and hearing everyone’s opinions, he maybe thought it wasn’t the case. 

 

And yet, Keith is the only one looking for him. A year after a fight and Keith is searching for him even if he’s not completely sure why. Because his life was just so...colorless. He was realizing that now. 

 

What did he want? What did Keith really, really want? 

 

He wanted...his place. He had walked away from it years ago. And he wanted his place back now. And he wasn’t going to fool himself and think that Hunk could fill it. Or Allura. 

 

And it hurt. God fucking damn it, it hurt. A hole in his chest that he thought he had closed up, that he had numbed with work and boyfriends and pretending...never had closed at all. The edges had scabbed, but he was finding that maybe it hurt all along. 

 

And he knew it was going to hurt a hell of a lot more, now that he was finally admitting that...what he felt for Lance as a teenager was maybe superficial. But there was no denying it now. Lovers, friends, rivals - Keith would take anything, at this point. 

 

But he had to get back to his place.  

 

~*~

 

Keith walked back into Azul, and this time there was a line out the door. He stepped ahead to the front, where a bouncer was admitting a kid with cracked green lips. His eyes looked blurred and lightless. The same spider-legged attendant was sitting in the window, and scowled at Keith when he passed without paying. 

 

He wasn’t here for pleasure. 

 

The club was completely different at night. Blue lights flashed over the guests, conducting meetings and socializing at tables with half their attention on the stage. The Galra woman from the video on the wall outside was onstage, moving her body up silk hangings by summersalting in midair and wrapping the hangings around her arms, stopping with her legs spread in a perfect split. 

 

“Hey, honey.” Triste sang, strutting over and smiling sharply. “Looking for something?” 

 

“Rachel?” he asked. 

 

“She’s in her office.” he said dismissively. “You could have a meeting with me instead.” 

 

“I really don’t think that’s a good idea.” 

 

“Triste, leave him alone.” Alana appeared at Keith’s other side. 

 

“What’s Senorita going to do?” Triste mocked. “Spank me?” 

 

“Senorita will collect his money.” Alana allowed coolly. “Stardust will waterboard you.” 

 

Triste paled, and subtly stepped away. 

 

“Stardust?” Keith mouthed at Alana. 

 

She winked at him. “Come on, she’s waiting for you. Do you want a drink?” 

 

“I’m fine.” 

 

Alana led him to a dark unobtrusive door next to the service bar. Today her makeup and outfit was scarlet. Long flowing linen pants made her seem to float. Her wings sparkled blue in the light. 

 

“Good luck.” Alana said quietly, gesturing at the door. 

 

“Hey, Alana? Why do you...care?” Keith asked. “About me and Lance?” 

 

She smiled. “Because. Everyone knows about the Paladins who saved everything. I think you deserve to be happy for a change.” 

 

Keith hesitated with his hand on the door. “Thanks, Alana.” 

 

“Go.” she waved him at the door. “Senorita isn’t the most patient.” 

 

Keith entered the room, which at first glance was empty. Just a room with a few chairs and a desk. When he stepped further in, he realized Rachel was slouched in one of the armchairs facing her desk, instead of sitting behind it. 

 

“Rachel?” he asked. 

 

She shifted to look up at him. “Oh, Keith. Sorry. I was just...thinking.” She cleared her throat and sat up straighter. “Sit. You...you look...rested.” 

 

Keith sat. 

 

“So. Do you have your answer?” 

 

“Yeah. I think so.” 

 

“So.” she spread her hands. “What do you want from my brother?” 

 

“I want to be what he deserves.” Keith told her. 

 

She considered him. Keith put his head in his hands. 

 

“I know it’s not what you want to hear.” Keith spoke to the floor. “I know you would prefer it if I just told you...but it’s not about me. It’s supposed to be about him.”

 

When Keith looked up, Rachel was smiling slightly. “You have it bad, don’t you?”

 

Keith sighed. “Yeah. I guess I do.” 

 

“Lance is...my brother is very open with his affection but he doesn’t make the first move.” Rachel warned. “He’s been hurt too many times. You’ve hurt him too many times. You may be waiting for a while for him to be ready.” 

 

Keith swallowed a burning sensation in his throat. “I know.” 

 

Rachel sighed. “If I tell you where he is, you have to give him a message for me. You have to tell him...it’s time. We have to move.” 

 

“Time for what?” Keith asked. 

 

Rachel hesitated. “He’ll tell you. If you really want to be what he deserves, I’ll be seeing you soon.” 

 

“Uh, sure.” Keith paused. “Where is he?” 

 

Rachel told him, and Keith realized...he knew Lance better than he thought. 

 

~*~

 

Keith soared along the coast line, finally spying the small cabana Rachel had told him about. The sky was filled with billowing white clouds, and the ocean was rough and choppy. Palm fronds whipped in the wind. A storm was rolling in on the Cuban coast but the rain wouldn't start for a few hours. Keith's display on his jet told him the temperature was 18*C, but the wind probably made it feel colder. And the water was probably freezing. 

 

As Keith turned the jet and slowly dropped to the ground, a tall figure turned and looked up at him, then turned away and walked down to the water. 

 

Great start. 

 

Once Keith landed, he sat in his pilot chair for a moment and stared at his hands. He had changed out of his flight suit when he arrived at the Garrison, into jeans and a white button down. He put his hands through his hair to pull it up, then sighed and let it drop. 

 

Get a grip, he told himself. 

 

After a moment of hesitation, Keith took off his shoes and socks and rolled up his jeans to his knees. As soon as he opened the jet door, Cosmo bolted and made a beeline for the surf. Keith followed slowly, enjoying the feeling of the sand and keeping his eyes on Lance. 

 

Lance stood in the ocean, waves crashing against his legs and trying to drag him away with them. Wind ripped at his hair and shirt, which he kept closed with crossed arms as he considered the horizon. 

 

Keith’s stomach ripped itself to pieces as he walked forward. He had no idea what to say. 

 

“Lance?” Keith asked. 

 

Lance turned and looked at him, and then sighed and looked back at the horizon. “Hey, man.” 

 

His heart stopped pounding. His stomach stopped tying itself in knots. The ache in his chest numbed. The wind blew, but it was silent. The cold water slammed into his legs, but after the first minute it felt warm. 

 

And everything felt fine. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love all the comments and love and everything but...y'all will be honest if this is crap, right? Cause...I don't know. I love writing and I love writing this but I also have no idea what I'm doing and my knees hurt and I think I might have just broken my own damn heart. Again. 
> 
> So...anyway. Let me know if this chapter is a goddamn mess.


	7. Chapter 7

_ “Keith? Are you listening?”  _

 

_ Keith’s attention snapped up. Allura was watching him in concern.  _

 

_ “Sorry.” he said automatically. “You were saying?”  _

 

_ But Allura’s gaze had already turned to where Keith had been looking. To where Hunk, Lance and Pidge hung out in the kitchen, perfectly at ease with each other. Pidge on her laptop, Hunk behind the stove, Lance leaning on a countertop.  _

 

_ “You could join them.” the princess suggested idly.  _

 

_ Keith looked away. “They don’t need me.”  _

 

_ “No. But they may want your company.”  _

 

_ No sooner had the words left his mouth than Lance called, “Hey! Keith!”  _

 

_ He waved excitedly. Allura smirked and gave Keith a light push. “I’ll be looking over the star charts with Coran.”  _

 

_ Keith sighed and trotted towards Lance’s becking hand.  _

 

_ “Hunk seems to believe the Rolling Stones were a better band than the Beatles.” Lance explained. “Which is just false.” _

 

_ “For once, Lance is right.” Pidge said, not looking up from her work.  _

 

_ “Well - “ Keith started. _

 

_ “NO!” Lance shouted, just as Hunk screeched, “YES!”  _

 

_ Hunk and Lance resumed their argument, which seemed to not just include music but also fruits, pets, and technology brands. Keith stayed out of it, laughing as it got more and more ridiculous, and tried not to react when Lance leaned against him ever so slightly.  _

 

_ Why did he have to be trapped on this damn ship with him? Someone so out of hand ridiculous? Someone who made it seem so easy? _

 

_ Years later, Keith would look back on that moment and a hundred others like it, and ask himself how he hadn’t noticed the way Lance’s eyes darted around and took everything in. How he quickly calculated every possible outcome before uttering a single word. Always the one to reach out, always the support, even if he acted like the star of the show.  _

 

_ But he didn’t want to see, so he didn’t.  _

 

~*~

 

Lance looked...tanned. His skin was a gorgeous coffee color. It made the blue markings on his face stand out more - painful reminders. His hair is longer, like Keith saw in recent videos of him, and curls at the nape of neck and around his ears. He hadn’t shaved recently, so thin light stubble peppered the lower half of his face. There’s a thin white scar on his chin, one of his finger nails is black like it had recently been crushed under something. 

 

He looked good. 

 

“Why are you here?” Lance asked quietly. 

 

Because Lance was quite possibly the only person Keith could see himself standing next to. Because Keith wanted to hold his sharp features and feel his rough stubble and atone for every sin he’s ever committed, against him or anyone else. Because there was enough pain and suffering in the universe and they had endured enough of it and Keith finally understood why Lance retreated to Altea for rest. 

 

“I wanted to find you.” Keith admitted. “To...apologize.” 

 

Lance is taller than Keith. Lance used to slouch and try to make himself smaller. Especially when they first shot off into space together. Hide in plain sight. For a bit, when they became friends and started to depend on each other and Keith believed they were capable of anything, Lance held his head high because he believed it too. And Keith barely noticed when he came back but Lance was...smaller. Not just because Keith got taller. 

 

But now he’s standing tall. Bolder. Like some piece has finally slid back into place, straightening out his spine and pushing his shoulders back. 

 

“For our fight?”

 

“For everything.” 

 

Lance looked at him curiously. Everything was maybe a bit much. Rachel had warned him that he’d be waiting for Lance to be ready for him. 

 

“I just...I wasn’t fair to you.”  _ Ever _ . “I never should have...fuck, I don’t know. Told you how to grieve or said anything about her or given up on you.”  _ On us _ . “You’re my best friend and I just...left.” 

 

_ Again _ . 

 

“It’s...it’s alright.” Lance said quietly. Then in a stronger voice, “Well, no, it’s not, and you’re a jerk, but you may have been right about a few things.” 

 

The waves crashed into their bare legs, stinging with salt and cold. A little ways away, Cosmo snapped at sea foam. Dead kelp that had been uprooted from the seabed flowed up and wrapped around Keith’s legs when the surf dragged back into the ocean. The wet sand shifted under his feet, digging him in deeper.

 

“I lost sight of a few things.” Lance explained, sounding like he might have been talking to himself instead of Keith. “I think maybe I was so focused on her being gone I started to forget that I was still here. That you were...so maybe you were right. I started to forget what I actually wanted for myself.” 

 

“What do you want?” Keith asked. 

 

Lance smiled. “I wanted to see something beautiful.” 

 

“Did you find it?” 

 

Lance sighed. “Not yet.” He looked at Keith, his eyes squinted to protect from the wind. “I’m sorry too. For...ignoring. Forgetting.” 

 

“Don’t be.” 

 

Lance turned and took a step towards the cabana. “Come on. I usually get a fire going around now.” 

 

Keith struggled for a moment to get his bearings, then followed Lance up the beach. Cosmo bounded after them, licking Lance’s hand in greeting before zapping ahead a few yards.

 

“How long have you been here?” Keith asked, as the sand started to dry and cling to their legs. 

 

“About two weeks. Since Shiro told me you were coming.” 

 

Lance wasn’t looking at him, and barely struggled in the sand on the slight incline. His broad shoulders filled the white linen shirt perfectly. 

 

“You were waiting for me?” Keith asked. 

 

Lance shrugged and didn’t look back. “Figured I’d give you a chance to catch up.” 

 

Keith shoved his hands in his pockets. “Could have just told us where you were.” he grumbled. 

 

“Didn’t want to make it too easy for you.” 

 

When they got to the cabana, Lance pointed Keith to one of the lawn chairs but Keith rolled his eyes and started to help move fresh firewood onto the charred remains of last night’s fire. They worked in silence, stacking the wood and carefully lighting the fire. 

 

“Are you hungry?” he asked. 

 

“Not really.” 

 

“Me neither.” Lance shot him a grin. “I swear, all that time in space screwed up my metabolism. I’ll be starving one night, and then not eat for three days.” 

 

Or, you know, depression could mess up your schedule. So could PTSD. Half the people they know couldn’t keep to a regular cycle. 

 

“So where have you been?” Keith asked. 

 

Lance shrugged and plopped down into the sand, stretching his legs out in front of him, and leaning back on his palms. Keith sat next to him with his knees hugged to his chest. 

 

“Hanging around with Nadia.” Lance shrugged. “And Rachel. I’m guessing they helped you find me.” 

 

“Seemed like you had a lot of fun with Rizavi.”

 

Lance smiled. “Yeah. We did. She’s wild, you know. A real adrenaline junkie. Causes more trouble than anyone I know.”

 

“Way I heard it, you caused your own share of trouble.” 

 

Lance groaned and looked skyward. “Of course she told you about Xathn’er.” 

 

“Xathn’er, huh? No wonder you tripped on his name.”

 

Red dusted Lance’s cheeks. “Nadia tends to dramatize things.” 

 

“What happened to Loverboy Lance? Conquering hearts - “

 

“Please stop.” 

 

“- across the universe.” 

 

Lance shook his head. “I didn’t want to hurt him. It just...it was supposed to be fun, you know? Just a fling.” Lance looked into the fire. “He got attached and I made it clear that I wasn’t we fought and I said the wrong name which made him even more pissed. So, we got kicked off the planet.” 

 

Not quite the telanovella Razavi had described. Jealousy burned in Keith’s chest anyway. Horrible and ugly. 

 

“Sounds like maybe you were a little attached too.” Keith said quietly. 

 

Lance sighed. “There was potential. Maybe. I don’t know. Doesn’t matter. I was...using him. I guess. I just...wanted to feel wanted. For a change.” 

 

They sat in silence for a bit. Keith dug his fingernails into his palm, trying to steady himself. He had apologized. He asked about the priests’ son, which sat uncomfortably in his stomach. That was the hard stuff. 

 

The rest should be easy. 

 

So he asked, “And you danced for Rachel?” 

 

His eyes glimmered as he turned and smirked. “A bit. I can show you sometime.” 

 

And Jesus Christ was that an invitation. 

 

“What else did you do with Razavi?” he asked instead. 

 

Lance told him stories. Stories of people he met while he played guitar, children he sang with, aliens he danced with. Bar fights he walked into and strange foods he had tasted and sunsets he watched. 

 

Around them the sky got dark. Lance had no shortage of stories, but then he had always been the talker. And Keith didn’t really have stories. Just work. 

 

Eventually, the fire died down and Lance grew quiet. Lance suggested they head inside, and Keith grabbed his bag from his jet while Lance went into the tiny one room hut. Lance told him to take the bed and he’d take the hammock outside, then walked out before Keith could argue with him. 

 

Keith stared at the ceiling. 

 

_ I just wanted to see something beautiful. _

 

It’s minutes or hours later, and the door opens and Lance’s dark figure shuffled in, squeezing between the bed, table and mini-fridge. 

 

“Keith? You awake?” Lance whispered. 

 

“Yeah.” 

 

The rock-hard mattress barely shifted as Lance sat on the edge of the bed. Keith sat up, pushing aside the thin blanket he had been using. Lance had his own blankets wrapped around his shoulders. 

 

“Can’t sleep?” Keith asked. 

 

Lance shook his head. 

 

“Why not?” 

 

“I just...you said if she wanted me to be happy, she would have - “

 

“I didn’t mean it.” Keith interrupted. “It was a stupid thing to say, and selfish. You can’t think like that. Allura loved - “ 

 

“She loved all of us.” Lance said firmly. “But honestly, some days I think you’re right. She wanted something, but she didn’t want me.” 

 

They sat in silence for a moment. 

 

“Why did you leave?” Keith whispered. “Why did you...not tell anyone where you were? I mean, you stole that comm from Pidge so we couldn’t track you, and then Rachel...you trusted Rachel and not the rest of us?” 

 

“I wanted to have adventures again. I wanted to just...find myself and try to remember who I was before everything that’s happened to us. Fly again. Maybe pick a few fights, win because of the things I learned along the way. And I didn’t want anyone to stop me.” 

 

“Then why did you wait for me here?” 

 

Lance sat silently for a moment. Then, “I don’t know.” 

 

Cosmo huffed and rolled over, as if tired of Lance’s response. 

 

“I just...is it awful of me to say that...you’re the most important person to me?” 

 

He sounded so scared and uncertain. Especially in the dark. And Keith was convinced that he could hear his heart thumping painfully against the jagged edges of the gaping wound in his chest. 

 

“No, I get it.” Keith said instead of whatever stupid things wanted to fly out of his mouth. “I...I came looking for you for a reason.” 

 

“I know.” 

 

“Do you?” 

 

Another moment of silence. This conversation was just filled with them. With...for once Lance not running his mouth. Considering. 

 

“Ever think that...somewhere you went wrong? Or something changed and...you can’t fix it but it changed everything. And then maybe...if that one moment went differently...maybe you’d be happier?” 

 

Keith looked at his hands folded in his lap. “Every day.” 

 

Lance patted his knee. “Get some sleep.” 

 

~*~

 

Keith’s head swirled with their conversation as he finally fell into a restless sleep. All he could see were blue eyes that searched the horizon for answers. His chest ripped itself into pieces. 

 

When he woke up, Lance was still sprawled on the hammock outside. He slept with his arms thrown up over his face, hiding his eyes from the warm morning sun that was rising. Keith pulled the shirt he had slept in over his head and whistled for Cosmo before setting off at an easy pace down the shore. 

 

The sea air felt crisp in his lungs, cleansing him. In the morning light, their conversation in the dark almost felt like a dream. 

 

When he returned, Lance was up and sipping coffee from a self-heating mug. His eyes went wide at the sight of Keith jogging up the beach, and quickly looked away. Not fast enough to hide the red spreading across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose.

 

Well. interesting. 

 

“Morning.” Keith greeted. 

 

“Morning.” Lance mumbled, blindly holding out a second mug. “Black, right?” 

 

“Thanks.” 

 

Keith sipped his coffee and looked out at the ocean, knowing full well he was giving Lance quite the view if he wanted it. God, he hoped he wanted it. 

 

“So, what are we doing today?” Lance asked. “There’s a really good market. We can go gossip with the housewifes.” 

 

Keith hesitated. “Lance, there’s something I didn’t tell you.” 

 

“What is it?” 

 

“When I saw Rachel...she gave me a message. She wanted me to tell you, it’s time.” 

 

Lance inhaled a sharp breath. “Oh.” 

 

They both watched the waves crash onto the shore for a moment. It was so peaceful here. No wonder Lance had pinned for it for so long. And there wasn’t anything quite like it either. 

 

But it was time to go. 

 

“So, what are we doing today?” Keith asked. 

 

Lance straightened up. “It seems like I have to help my sister with something. It will be dangerous, and there won’t be back up, and we can’t tell Shiro.” 

 

“And it’s on Rath Veris?” 

 

“And the surrounding system, yeah.” 

 

“I hate Rath Veris.” 

 

“So, are you in?” 

 

Keith looked back down at him, but Lance was still studying the horizon. 

 

“Where can I sign up?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SORRYYYYYYYY
> 
> I know it took forever for me to write this. It was honestly really challenging. But now we get action! Romance! Mad science! (Girl Genius, anyone? I'm really behind on that - I have to start reading it again.) 
> 
> Hugs and kisses for all of you. I know I never reply to comments but I love and treasure every single one.


	8. Chapter 8

_ “Hello, Keith.” _

 

_ “Hey, Coran. How are you?” _

 

_ “Doing well, m’boy! To what do I owe the pleasure?”  _

 

_ “I’m looking for Lance.”  _

 

_ Silence. A cough. “Oh, er, I’m afraid he’s busy right now.” _

 

_ “Doing what?” _

 

_ “...An errand for his sister.”  _

 

_ “Oh. Well...tell him I called?” _

 

_ “Of course.”  _

 

~*~

 

The plan, after Lance threw his belongings into a bag and boarded Keith’s ship with a guitar case and an additional heavy bag, was to use Keith’s clearance for a wormhole directly back to Rath Veris. There was, however, a factor they didn’t account for that delayed their trip and kept them waiting in a holding room. 

 

Lance still hadn’t explained what, exactly, they were helping Rachel with. But that was really not the current issue.

 

“YOU WERE HERE THIS WHOLE TIME?” Pidge shrieked, smacking as high as she could reach on Lance. 

 

“Oww!” Lance winced and rubbed his bicep. “Such sharp little hands- “ 

 

“We were worried sick about you!” 

 

“Awww, Pidgey - “ 

 

“Don’t. I’m mad.” 

 

“I’m guessing you’re the one grounding us?” Keith asked. 

 

“Yeah, I had to get my ranting in.” Pidge barely took her eyes off of Lance. “What were we supposed to do if something happened to you? 

 

“Keith found me.” 

 

That didn’t seem to make Pidge any less angry. 

 

“Pidge, I’m sorry.” Lance smiled slightly, then held his arms open for a hug. “Will it make it any better if I was only on Earth for the past week?” 

 

She sighed and stepped into his embrace. “You can be a real jackass, you know that?” 

 

“Mmmm...love you too.” 

 

Keith fought to keep the smile from his face, but he suspected some of it got out anyway. When Pidge pulled away from Lance, which didn’t take long, he asked, “Can release the hold on our request now? We have to get back to Rath Veris.” 

 

“Sure.” Pidge turned away. “I’ll grab my things.” 

 

“Nu-uh.” Lance said quickly. “You’re not coming with.” 

 

“I swear to God, Lance, if you say something like ‘it’s dangerous’ - “

 

“The Garrison can’t be involved in this. I’m not kidding, Pidge. This is the biggest ‘don’t tell Dad’ of the century.” 

 

“So you’re bringing Keith?” she demanded incredulously. “Look, technically, I’m a private contractor for the Garrison, not an employee, so I can do what I want. So - “

 

“Pidge you can’t go to Rath Veris.” Lance groaned. “You owe half the gambling dens and there’s only so much I can do - “

 

“Gambling dens?” Keith repeated. “Jesus, Pidge, I thought you quit.” 

 

At some point during the war Pidge had found the wonderful world of intergalactic online poker, most of which was run through Rath Veris. Pidge was very good at poker. A little too good, maybe. But she did hit losing streaks. And she when she did, she didn’t know when to stop. 

 

“GreenGoblin666 owes them credits, not Katie Holt.”

 

“You don’t even know why we’re going.” Lance said. “Keith doesn’t even know - “ 

 

“Then why are you dragging him with?” Pidge asked sharply. “And why is he going?” 

 

Lance’s mouth snapped shut, and Keith wondered what he would say. Keith knew exactly why he was going. 

 

“Besides, I do follow the news, you know. I can guess why you’re going out there.” 

 

“Pidge, I’d love to bring you with. Really. But this is just...we can’t have too many outsiders involved, and Keith doesn’t have any ties to the Garrison anymore, so - “ 

 

“Oh, my God.” Pidge gasped. “This is a date, isn’t it?” 

 

Keith’s heart leapt into his throat while Lance sputtered, “What? No!” 

 

“You’re both so fucked up.” 

 

“This is not a date!” 

 

She looked between their equally red faces. “Uh-huh. Sure. Have fun. Have him home by ten.” 

 

“Pidge!”

 

She waved over her shoulder as she walked away. “See you two at the wedding.” 

 

Lance was still sputtering when Keith turned around and marched towards the door that would lead them back to his ship. “Come on. Let’s go.” 

 

~*~

 

It was snowing on Rath Veris. 

 

Or, it looked like snow. A holo-report flashed them on the street, headlining the explosion of a cargo ship a few clicks outside the city. 

 

It was ashing. 

 

Lance pulled a hood up over his head, kept his hands shoved in the long coat he was wearing. His long, thin frame looked like the anti-hero from a detective comic. Two druggies huddled together in a doorway, bodies curled into each other like lovers. As Keith and Lance walked by, one shook the other’s shoulder. 

 

“Etris? Etris?” 

 

As they approached Azul, the video on the front of the building cycled through several dancers. Keith didn’t know whether to be grateful to not see the video of Lance again, or to be dissapointed. 

 

Lance held the door open for Keith, and shifted his bags to squeeze in after him. He winked at the attendant, who still sported a bandage around his skull. 

 

“Hey, Terry.” he grinned. 

 

Terry, if that was the spider-like alien’s name, just nodded. 

 

“I wonder what happened to him.” Lance stage whispered as they headed up the stairs. 

 

Keith stayed silent. 

 

The club was silent. Empty. It was closed but no one was practicing on stage. No one stood behind the bar doing inventory. Lance charged right through the tables, ignoring every instinct that was telling Keith that someone should be here. Mopping, testing lights, stretching out, something. 

 

Lance rapped his knuckles on the door to the back office three times before impatiently pushing the door open. 

 

“Lance!” 

 

“Stardust!”

 

“You’re here!” 

 

Keith silently stepped into the room behind him, to some sort of meeting. A staff meeting, maybe? Lance was wrapped in his sister’s embrace, and Keith noticed the way Rachel’s fingers clutched at his jacket. And how everyone was wearing muted colors. 

 

Something was wrong. 

 

Lance pulled away from Rachel and smiled around the room. “Hey, everyone. Triste. Where’s...hey, where’s Alana?” 

 

The room fell silent. 

 

Lance looked around, then at Rachel. “Rache...where’s Alana?” 

 

“She’s...she OD’d, Lance.” Rachel said quietly. “They found the body this morning.” 

 

Lance stepped back, as if he had been struck. Keith stayed frozen in the doorway. 

 

“She...she was sober.” Lance said shakily. “She wouldn’t - “

 

“She didn’t.” Triste’s bitter voice cut through the heavy atmosphere. “The Uthilians got her.” 

 

“Triste, we don’t know that for sure.” another voice demurred. 

 

“Don’t we?” Triste stood and looked around. He caught sight of Keith, and instead of lilting into the flirty mess Keith was used to his eyes hardened in a way that a day before would have seemed impossible. “And it’s all his fault.” 

 

Every eye in the room snapped over to Keith. 

 

“Triste - “ Rachel started slowly.

 

“I didn’t - “ Keith began.

 

“They saw you with her.” Triste snarled, stalking towards him. A cold fury in his eyes that reminded Keith a lot of Allura. “In the bar. Before you left. Talking. They recognized you. You, with your face all over the news feeds.”

 

Keith kept his face carefully neutral, even with Triste less than a foot away. 

 

“So they thought she was trying to bring in external help. And they did what any sensible crime organization would do, and killed her. To warn us.” 

 

“I didn’t mean to - “ 

 

“Of course you didn’t. But she’s dead. And it’s your fault.” 

 

Triste raised a fist that glinted with a sharp blade, and Keith’s hands reflexively went up to defend himself, and on the peripherals every hand in the room moved for a weapon, and none of them had the training Keith did as his fingers circled the incoming wrist, and - 

 

Lance was already there with a gun pointed at the back of Triste’s skull. 

 

His face was set in determination, a look Keith honestly hadn’t seen in a long time. A look Keith had thought he had completely lost. 

 

“Triste.” Lance said in a deceptively light voice. “If you lay a single finger on him, my sister will be paying for two funerals.” 

 

Triste didn’t try to fight Keith, but he didn’t move either. 

 

“Lance.” Rachel warned sharply. 

 

“Keith and I fought in a war together, Triste.” Lance explained evenly. “I’m sure you understand how it feels for me when someone threatens him.” 

 

“Let him go.” Rachel commanded. 

 

It wasn’t clear if she was talking to Lance with the gun, or Keith with his grip on Triste, or Triste with his raised knife, but they all released and stepped apart. Uncomfortably, hands moved away from weapons, but no one relaxed. 

 

What the hell was going on here?

 

~*~

 

Rachel sent them to her apartment on the other side of the city. She said she’d explain everything to Keith when she finished talking to her staff, then shut the two former paladins in the cab she called. 

 

Lance was silent on the drive. He stared out the window at the dark city, their bags jammed between their legs. 

 

“Where did you get the gun?” Keith asked quietly. 

 

“Rachel.” 

 

“Oh.” 

 

They didn’t say another word. 

 

Keith didn’t know Alana that well, but he knew she was kind. He knew she didn’t embody her profession the way Triste did, or have Rachel’s cynical edge. She believed in soul mates, or some version of it, and that people like Lance and Keith deserved happiness. 

 

Rachel’s place was a loft apartment with large windows that looked out onto a nicer part of the city than where the club was. Or, it would have, if the sky wasn’t filled with smog and ash. The kitchen gleamed with the cleanliness of one that wasn’t used, and a large gray sectional filled the majority of the living space. It faced the windows to observe the bleakness. Floating stairs twisted up to a second level, where Rachel probably slept. The ceiling was stripped bare to reveal support beams and piping and industrial lightings. 

 

Lance tossed down his bags and flopped down onto the couch, sprawling his limbs across the grey canvas. 

 

“Man, we’re getting old. I swear, wormhole jumps didn’t used to take it out of me.” 

 

Keith sat on the edge of the other end of the couch. It had been jarring, to leave Earth at midday and reach Rath Veris in the early evening with only a few minutes in between. Though maybe it was more the argument with Pidge that had exhausted Lance, or the trip through customs, which seemed to be more about making a big show of searching their bags and ship and credits changing hands than any actual security. Though where Lance got the money from…

 

“Did Rachel tell you when the funeral is?” Keith asked quietly. 

 

“Alana’s people...Temerthinians don’t have funerals.” Lance kept his gaze on the ceiling. “They...I guess you can call it reincarnating. A few hours after their death, their bodies dissolve into ash and a flower grows from the remains. It acts as a gametophyte, and when they unite with another Temerthinian in flower form, they can make new life. Kind of like ferns.” 

 

“Ferns?” 

 

“Yeah, man. Alternation of generations.” Lance sighed. “She was a beautiful person, wasn’t she?” 

 

Keith, knowing her all of two days and only that she had gone out of her way to help him on the basis that she wanted to make Lance happy, replied, “Yeah, she was.” 

 

Silence. 

 

“Why make her overdose?” Keith finally asked. 

 

“Alana came here as a tourist.” Lance explained to the ceiling. “Got hooked on Remifridan. Old Remy. Gives you the same sensation as ecstasy with all the addicting power of heroin. Happens to plenty of people around here. One thing lead to the next, and soon Alana was on the street.” 

 

“But you said she got clean.” 

 

“She did. Eventually. But it took a long time. She came here looking for a job when Rachel first opened. She had done private shows but nothing for audiences of multiple people.”

 

“She told me you helped her get over her stage fright.” 

 

“Yeah. I guess I did.” 

 

They fell silent again. 

 

“A junkie relapsing, authorities wouldn’t look too close.” Lance muttered. “Not that they look close to begin with. I know this is the part where you want to rush in and fix it. Get revenge. But we can’t. There’s too much at stake.”

 

“Lance, what is going on here?” Keith asked. “And why...why does Rachel need a gun? And for you to be her security anyway?” 

 

Lance sighed and sat up, rubbing his face. “Okay. So, you know the Uthilian pirates that have been all over the news?”

 

“Yeah.” 

 

“Well, the ships that have been attacked...they’ve mostly been smugglers ships that deal with people like my sister. They’ve been choking them out. The planet’s been on the verge of a gang war for a while now.”

 

“And the Garrison and the Alliance won’t help?” 

 

“The people here don’t want their help, Keith. Rath Veris operates on its own rules. It always has. If an external force sorts out the Uthilian pirates, then what’s to stop them from cleaning up the planet? Can you imagine gentrification on a global scale?” 

 

Personally, Keith thought that cleaning up the drug problem and adding a few frozen yogurt shops wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to Rath Veris, but he didn’t live here. Rachel did. And he was quickly starting to realize that Rachel had more power than he initially thought. 

 

“Rachel wants this solved quickly and quietly. She has a plan. Something she wants me to do.” 

 

“Why am I here, then?” 

 

“Dunno. You seemed like you needed an adventure. I’m going to take a shower.” 

 

Lance got up and dragged one of his bags over his shoulder and up the floating stairs. 

 

Why was he here? A gang war? On a foreign planet? That he didn’t hate but more seriously disliked and didn’t agree with. Most of the planet, in fact, made him cringe. And how was he supposed to support something that avoided organizations he had fought to create? That some of his closest friends were now key members of?

 

He was here because Lance asked. Lance, who had never once asked him for anything. Who gave so much even when he was hurting. Who maybe could be annoying and drive him crazy, but had never fallen through. Until he decided he needed a break.

 

But now he was back. And he had asked, so Keith was here. In another war he didn’t belong in. But instead of finding his family or himself, this time he was getting Lance back. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if this is a little choppy! If it's super bad just let me know and I'll rewrite it. It's mainly set up for other chapters, and we will get to the really good klance shit soon. Promise. 
> 
> Also, sorry my updating is a little sporadic. I work a lot. It makes me sleepy, and makes me want to do things like spending an entire day binging Umbrella Academy instead of writing. (Don't believe the reviews. I thought it was great, and more fleshed out than the original comics. A really interesting look at how your childhood and parents can destroy you.)


	9. Chapter 9

Rachel sent a message while Lance was in the shower, saying she had decided to open the club for the night in an effort to pretend everything was fine. Rath Veris was a cold, cruel world, one where clubs don’t close in memory of dead strippers.

 

“Keep an eye out for Triste.” Rachel had said. “If he shows up...just...give him some water and put him in my bed.” 

 

Lance found a bottle of nunvil after rummaging in a cabinet, and Keith flicked through Rachel’s movie selection. They weren’t tired, and they weren’t hungry, so depressants and movie it was. 

 

“Floxa and the Ribbidium?” Keith called over his shoulder.

 

“Pretty sure we saw that one. Not boring enough.” 

 

Keith sighed and scrolled down on the screen. They wanted a boring movie to try to fall asleep, to better adjust to the local time. Lance dropped the bottle on the couch and vaulted over the back, landing with a slight bounce. He picked up a bottle opener up off the coffee table and popped the cap off the top. 

 

“Remember the first time we tried this?” Lance asked. 

 

Keith smiled slightly. “Didn’t you spit it out?” 

 

“Can’t remember. You didn’t fare much better.” He leaned forward to pour two glasses. “Not sure if I like it because I’m older, or I’ve gotten used to it, or I’m just jaded enough to ignore the taste.” 

 

The communicator on the table blipped, and Keith picked it up. 

 

“Keith! Hey! How are you!” 

 

“Hey, Curtis.” 

 

“Curtis?” Lance perked up. “Ask him if he’s figured out the seating chart yet.” 

 

Curtis frowned. “Is that Lance? You found Lance?” 

 

“Yeah, uh, Lance is here.” Keith turned the communicator to capture his image. “Say hi.” 

 

Lance scooted over to press up next to Keith so they could both talk to Curtis. He pushed a glass into Keith’s free hand. It’s oddly...domestic. Quiet night in, nunvil, Lance’s damp hair smelling strongly of eucalyptus. 

 

“Hey Curtis! Shiro still being a useless one armed - heeeeyyyy, Shiro.” 

 

Keith snorted into his glass as Shiro appeared on the screen next to his finance. Now that he had actually, you know, tried different varieties of alcohol and other depressant beverages, nunvil sort of reminded him of room temperature campari. Bitter, citrusy, strong, made his stomach curl. 

 

“Lance, it’s good to see you.” Shiro smiled warmly, looking between Keith and Lance. “For the record, we tried to tell Keith to leave you alone. He wouldn’t listen.” 

 

“S’alright. He came at a good time.” Lance ducked his head. “How’s the wedding planning?” 

 

“Well, the caterers cancelled.” Curtis said miserably. “Hunk offered but we want him to enjoy the wedding and not work it. So now we have two weeks to find someone new.” 

 

“This is the wedding of Takashi Shirogane.” Lance mocked. “I’m sure they’re lining up.” 

 

Shiro snorted. “Oh, they are. But no one’s good enough for Curtis’ superior palate, which has suddenly developed in the last two days.” 

 

“It’s our wedding! It has to be perfect.” 

 

“Eloping would be perfect.”

 

“Ignore him, Curtis.” Keith grinned. “Shiro’s always been a curmudgeon at heart. I learned the art from him.” 

 

“I cannot wait till you get married.” Shiro grumbled. “Just you wait and see, Keith.”

 

“Anyway, Keith, your tux arrived yesterday. You think you’ll be able to stop by to pick it up before we all head to Earth for the wedding?” 

 

Keith glanced at Lance. “Uh...not sure.”

 

“Where are you guys anyway?” Shiro asked, something in his expression becoming fixed. 

 

Lance dug his fingers under Keith’s ribs in a warning. “We’re just visiting my sister on Rath Veris.” 

 

“That’s...nice.” 

 

Curtis’ gaze sharpened. “Rath Veris, huh?” 

 

Lance sat up. “I’m going to make some popcorn.” 

 

He heaved himself up off the couch and headed for the kitchenette. 

 

On the screen, Shiro murmured, “Babe, can I talk to my brother for a second?” 

 

“Sure, Tak.” Curtis kissed his cheek. “You want a tea?”

 

“Thanks.” 

 

Shiro turned his gaze onto Keith, who sank back into the couch. 

 

“Rath Veris, huh?” Shiro asked mildly. “I had heard Rachel settled there.”

 

“Yeah. Uh, Lance convinced me to take a bit of a vacation.” 

 

“You. Vacation. On Rath Veris.” 

 

“Uh-huh.” 

 

“Keith, you can barely watch porn without blushing, let alone go to a strip club.” 

 

“I was fifteen!” Keith protested, cringing at the memory of Shiro walking in on him selecting porn. Selecting. He hadn’t even gotten to the watching part. 

 

Behind him, Lance snorted. Keith flipped him off over his shoulder. 

 

“And as far as drugs, if I remember correctly, the first time you smoked pot Adam found you sobbing in the bathroom because you couldn’t feel your hands. So, why would you want to vacation on a planet practically drowning in those vices?” 

 

“Underground knife fights.” Keith lied. 

 

“What about the Iberian pirates?” 

 

Keith’s heart pounded in his chest. “The who?”

 

“The pirates you were so worried about when Lance was missing? Who are based in the Xylos sector. Where you are.” 

 

“Oh, them.” 

 

Shiro was not impressed. 

 

“We’ll be fine.” Keith said, trying to sound dismissive. “Look, Lance wanted to see his sister, and I needed a break, and Rey’un’s been bugging me to cut loose anyway.” 

 

“I just don’t understand why you two always have to be in the middle of chaos.” 

 

“Lance is an adrenaline junkie.” 

 

“You’re one to talk, Mullet!” Lance shouted from the kitchen. 

 

On the screen, Curtis appeared next to Shiro again. “They really are a match made in heaven.” 

 

Keith glared, but the effect was probably a little lost in the red spreading across his nose and cheeks.

 

“Keith, is everything alright?” Shiro asked quietly, so Lance wouldn’t hear. Keith had to hold the communicator a little closer. “You two seem...I don’t know.” 

 

“Seem what?” 

 

Shiro shook his head. “Nevermind. Enjoy your vacation, or whatever the hell you’re doing.” 

 

“We’ll talk later.” Curtis reassured. “And hey, if you meet any caterers…” 

 

“Yeah, I’ll let you know.” Keith promised. “Bye.” 

 

“Bye.” 

 

“Take care, Keith.” Shiro said. 

 

The screen went black and Keith stared at it for a moment before sighing and tossing it to the side. 

 

Was there something wrong with them? Was Shiro right? He had never really thought about it before, but were they really always found in the middle of a disaster? Keith was. Keith was always in a fight somewhere. Lance...Lance used to be in the center of everything. Every room, every party, eyes were always on him. And he knew how to use it, too. Could command the attention. 

 

Usually, Keith used the diverted attention to slink away. Hide somewhere. Enjoy the peace. Or sulk. Sometimes Lance would track him down later. Usually after he screwed it up somehow. 

 

Keith sipped his nunvil, and grimaced. He may be older and better adjusted, but this was still potent stuff. 

 

“Decide on a movie?” 

 

Keith started and looked up at Lance, holding a bowl of popcorn. He looked a little concerned. 

 

“Sorry.” Keith said, looking back at the view screen. “Can’t decide.” 

 

“Here, swap.” he said, placing the bowl in Keith’s lap and taking the remote. “Your choices are usually terrible, anyway.” 

 

Keith rolled his eyes. 

 

Lance settled in and started scrolling through the movie selection. 

 

Maybe that was what had alarmed Keith when Lance was on the farm. He was suddenly the one slinking away, leaving Keith with the attention. And it didn’t sit right. 

 

“To Alana.” Lance said quietly, holding out his glass. 

 

Keith bit his lip, and clinked his glass against Lance’s. “Alana.” 

 

Lance finally found a movie that was suitably boring, and they drank half the bottle of nunvil while sprawled across the couch. 

 

“It might be better on ice.” Keith suggested after watching Lance pretend not to gag on his second glass. 

 

They got ice. It made it tolerable. They drank the rest of the bottle. 

 

~*~

 

Waking happened slowly today. His mouth was dry, the skin his hands and feet felt tight. Keith lifted his head and instead of seeing Lance stretched out on the other end of the sectional he just saw a rumpled blanket and pillow. 

 

Keith sat up and blindly snatched at the full cup of water sitting on the coffee table, chugging half of it. 

 

“Morning.” 

 

Keith looked around to see Lance standing in the kitchenette with a mess of groceries around him. The smell of coffee permeated the room, and something sizzled on the stove. 

 

“Rachel’s still asleep.” 

 

Keith nodded and carried his water over to the island counter. Lance handed him a mug of coffee. 

 

“Thanks.” 

 

“Need painkillers?” 

 

“No. Did you?” 

 

Lance shook his head. 

 

They were both lying. 

 

Lance turned away and started laying out strips of bacon in a pan. 

 

“What are you doing?” Keith interrupted. 

 

“Uhm, making breakfast?” 

 

Keith rolled his eyes and came around to the other side of the island. The oven was already on. “Get me a sheet tray?” 

 

“Why?” 

 

“Cause it’s easier to make bacon in the oven.” 

 

“Since when?” 

 

“Since always. Just find me a sheet tray.” 

 

Keith lined the bacon on the tray and opened the oven door. Inside was a small glass dish containing marinated eggplant. “What’s that for?” 

 

“Rachel’s a freak.” Lance muttered. 

 

Keith pushed the tray in, then stepped aside to watch Lance turn over the potatoes on the stove top. 

 

“I didn’t know you could cook.” Keith said, sipping his coffee. 

 

Lance rolled his eyes. “Of course I know how to cook.”

 

“You didn’t used to.” 

 

“Of course I did.” 

 

“But...you never cooked with Hunk.” 

 

Lance shrugged. “Hunk needed...something he could control. Back then, we all did. To cope. Pidge had her robots and you had your training and Hunk cooked. I didn’t want to take that away from him.”

 

“What about you?” 

 

Lance’s spatula slowed. 

 

“I don’t know.” He hesitated, then smiled. “I guess I had all of you.” 

 

He poured the potatoes into a large bowl, then poured whisked eggs into the hot pan. 

 

“What do you want in your omelette?” 

 

Keith shrugged. “Whatever you’re having, I guess. Are you sure those potatoes are done?” 

 

“Yes. Why?” 

 

“They don’t look done.” 

 

“Oh my - Keith, they’re done, alright? You want to cook them more, by all means, go ahead.” 

 

“Well I can’t now, you’re using the hot pan for the omelettes.” 

 

“Just make the quiznacking toast.” 

 

Keith dug in the cabinet Lance had pulled the sheet tray from and came up with a pan. He stood next to Lance at the stove and dumped half a stick of butter in the pan. 

 

“What are you doing?” Lance asked incredulously. 

 

“Making toast.” Keith responded blithely. 

 

“There’s a toaster over there!” 

 

“Are you arguing southern cooking?”

 

“You’re from Texas. That’s not the good part of southern cooking.” 

 

“Hey, I survived on my own for a year.” 

 

“Yes, and now I’m wondering how you stayed so thin.” 

 

Keith smirked at him and rotated the pan to melt the butter faster. When it was all liquid, he loaded as many slices of bread as he could into the pan, then flipped them over before they could absorb too much butter. Next to him, Lance loaded the center of the omelette with cheese and peppers. 

 

“Are you sure you’re making toast properly?” 

 

“Lance, shut up and pay attention to your omelette.” 

 

“Are you two always like this?” 

 

They both jumped and turned around. Rachel stood there, rubbing her eyes, her hair held away from her face by a headband and a robe wrapped around her. She looked so much like her brother it was almost comical. 

 

“Morning, Rach.” Lance greeted, then turned back around to slide the omelette onto a plate. “Coffee?”

 

She poured her own cup and leaned against the counter. “Your arguing woke me up.” she said. 

 

“Sorry.” Lance said, not sounding apologetic at all. “And be nice to the people making you food. Who went out and bought food.” 

 

Keith frowned at him. “How long have you been up?” 

 

“I think that side of the toast is done.” 

 

“Shit.” he reached in and pinched the edge of the bread slices, flipping them over, then sucked on his fingertips. 

 

Lance pushed him out of the way to open the oven and pull the eggplant out, then set it on the counter and poured more eggs into the pan. 

 

“How’d you sleep?” Lance asked his sister, moving around her to open the fridge. 

 

“Fine.” She shrugged. “How did your friends put up with you two for so long?” 

 

“They didn’t, mostly.” Keith admitted. “Either Shiro told us to knock it off, or they just left the room.” 

 

“Probably why they didn’t notice when we actually started being friends.” Lance smirked. 

 

Oh, they noticed something alright. Keith just doubted that Lance knew what it was. Lance topped off everyones coffees and poured glasses of orange juice. Keith put the fried toast on plates, added more butter to the pan, and started a second batch. Rachel watched their movements with an odd expression. 

 

Eggplant, tomatoes, capers, and parmesan went into the second omelette and Keith made a face. “What the hell is that?” 

 

Lance rolled his eyes. “That is how Rachel likes her omelettes.” 

 

“My house is a judgement free zone Keith.” Rachel said over the lip of her mug. “You like dick. I like eggplant. We all deal with each other somehow.” 

 

“There’s nothing wrong with eggplant.” Keith said, his lip curling at the site of the warmed, olive cured eggplant, pickled capers, fresh tomatoes, melting hard cheese. “In an omelette though…”

 

“Don’t try, Keith.” Lance grumbled. “She’s always been like this. You won’t win.” 

 

Keith opened the oven and took out the tray of perfectly cooked bacon, and snatched a pair tongs from the collection of utensils in a stylish pot. He laid out a paper towel, and started moving the bacon from tray to towel, patting it dry as he went. 

 

“I can’t believe that worked.” Lance said, gaping at the perfectly cooked bacon. 

 

“What was that?” Keith smirked. “I was right?” 

 

“Shut up.” 

 

Soon they were pulling together the plates. Keith jumped when Lance put a hand on the small of his back to let him know he was moving behind him. Rachel smirked at him. 

 

“Alright, we have huevos alla norma for the philistine.” Lance said, sliding a loaded plate in front of his sister. “And proper omelettes for us. Dig in.” 

 

Rachel gave her twin the finger, but picked up her fork anyway. 

 

“Holy shit.” Lance said, staring at the piece of toast he had just taken a bite of. “I think...I think I’m in love.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some not-so-soft domestic Klance for your viewing pleasure. I hope you enjoyed. 
> 
> I don't know why I wanted Rachel to like weird food, but I did. Although I really can't judge - I put cornichons in my salads.


	10. Chapter 10

Breakfast was finished and cleared away. Rachel had done the dishes while Lance wrapped up leftovers and cleaned the counters. Rachel made a second pot of coffee, and the island counter now hosted their war council. 

 

“Lance has told you our situation?” Rachel asked. 

 

“Vaguely.” Keith nodded. 

 

“The Iberians are readying for a full siege on the planet.” 

 

Rachel laid a tablet on the counter top, and a hologram of Rath Veris appeared. Several satellites lazily circled the planet, a starship waited in orbit for the return of its shuttles with supplies and passengers. A cargo ship slowly approached, and was suddenly swarmed by a flock of small fighter jets. 

 

“This was last night. It was over so fast, they couldn’t even get out a distress signal. Luckily, it was one of those new Holt Enterprises ships. Mostly automated, skeleton crew.” 

 

“What did they take?” Lance asked. 

 

“Textiles.” 

 

Lance rose an eyebrow at his twin. Being a terrible liar seemed to be a trait they both shared. 

 

“And some weapons. And some...raw remifridan.” 

 

Lance cursed and looked at the ceiling. 

 

“Was it your charter?” Keith asked. 

 

“No, but I had a share in some of the goods that were taken.” 

 

“How much?” Lance asked. 

 

Rachel bit her lip. 

 

“How much, Rachel?” 

 

“A crate of explosives. Fifty rifles. Charge packs. And a set of those new comms from Viridium.” 

 

“Jesus.” Keith breathed. 

 

“Who are you planning on attacking?” Lance asked incredulously. “The Garrison?” 

 

“I was going to sell them.” Rachel sulked. “The comms were for you.” 

 

Lance shook his head. 

 

“A siege would, obviously, not be good.” Rachel told Keith. “More important than goods, is tourists. This planet won’t survive a week without fresh clients. And quite frankly, I don’t want the ones we currently have staying too long either.” 

 

“But you can’t bring attention to it, because that would stop business as well.” Keith finished. “And you don’t want the Garrison involved, because they would mess with the status quo.” 

 

“Exactly.” 

 

“But you have a plan?” 

 

She nodded. “A very simple one, really. I would like you and Lance to blow up their flagship. And I would like you to steal back all the Old Remy they took.”

 

“No.” Lance said immediately. “No way.” 

 

“Lance, don’t be stupid.” 

 

Lance jabbed a finger at his sister, his eyes hard. “You said, no drugs. When you opened the club, that was the thing. Everyone working for you would be clean, and you wouldn’t sell because it does nothing but make everything worse.”

 

“If I have the supply, I’ll have more leverage over the other heads of Houses.” Rachel argued. “The more influence I have, the more I can do to make things safe.” 

 

“Mobster with a heart of gold. Mama would be so proud.” 

 

Rachel’s lip curled into a snarl and Keith decided now would be a good time to get involved. 

 

“Okay, okay, calm down.” he said quickly. “Just...let’s think about this a minute, alright?”

 

The twins refused to look at eachother. Keith sighed, and rubbed his temples. It had been a while since he had been involved in a strategy meeting - lately the Blades just dropped in as clean up. Distributing food, rebuilding homes, weeding out smaller threats. Keith had never liked being in charge - it was easier for him to follow orders and occasionally disobey them. And quite frankly, he did not expect Lance and Rachel to be so argumentative. 

 

“Rachel, what exactly do you have on the Iberians?” Keith asked. 

 

She hesitated. “They have three main ships. Roturan XClass-334’s. Ancient things. You can download their maintenance plans for free. They’re all identical, so they rotate which one acts as the flagship. Their leader, Herrant Respor, is smart, and sticks to a randomized schedule that only his people know. We don’t know when they’ll start their siege, but we’re assuming it will be soon.”

 

“So, we need to figure out which ship to blow up.” Keith said. “Before they move. If that’s at all possible. And we need to do it quietly, and somehow you need to come out on top.” 

 

“Basically.” Rachel agreed. 

 

Keith looked at Lance. “Well?” 

 

Lance blinked. “Well, what?” 

 

Keith spread his hands. “You’re the one who doesn’t want to hand your sister a boatload of drugs. So, how else can we make sure she becomes top dog?” 

 

His lip was a hard, thin line. “I’ll think about it.” 

 

“Great. While Lance  _ thinks about it _ , because God knows how long that will take - “ Rachel snorted and Lance made an outraged noise, and Keith smiled “ - we need to figure out which ship we’re attacking.”

 

“That, I can help with.” Rachel said. “The Iberians have been meeting with some former Galra Empire generals, who are staying on planet. Their hotel has been kind enough to give them VIP access at Azul for the evening. After a few drinks, who knows what they’ll say.” 

 

“I’m assuming you have a share in that hotel?” Keith asked warily. 

 

Rachel’s smile was as sharp as a knife. “The majority.” 

 

“Great. So we can...I don’t know, slip a tracking device in their pocket - “

 

“Way too risky. The Iberians might be able to detect the signal, and we don’t have enough time for your friend Pidge to send us something. We’ll have to do it the old fashioned way.”

 

Lance straightened up. “We can work the floor. Keep an open ear, try to figure out which ship they’re meeting on. Enough nunvil and I’m sure they’ll talk about anything.”

 

Keith blanched. He’s not sure which thought he’s more uncomfortable with - the idea of having to watch Lance run around in those booty shorts from the video on the wall in real time, or the idea of having to wear a similar pair himself. 

 

“I’m not sure if Keith working on the floor is such a good idea.” Rachel gave a twisted smile. “Someone might get hurt.” 

 

Lance looked him up and down. “You’re right. He’ll break the hand of the first client who tries to grab his ass.” 

 

Rachel snorted. “I’m more worried about what you’ll do.” 

 

“Me?” 

 

“You almost blew Triste’s head off for yelling at him yesterday.” 

 

A pleasant red color spread across Lance’s high cheekbones, his Altean markings glimmering in the contrast. “He had a knife!”

 

“He wasn’t going to use it.” 

 

“I was just going to scare him a little.” 

 

“I used to bartend.” Keith volunteered. 

 

This was not the whole truth. Keith used to barback at a biker bar off the books when he was alone in the desert. The regular bartenders there had taught him how to pour a beer, pour a shot, and make vodka sodas. He assumed Rachel’s clients wouldn’t want much different. 

 

Rachel looked him over. “Fine. You can work behind the bar. We need to do something to disguise you.”

 

She didn’t need more staff getting killed. It was unspoken, but it was there. And it fucking hurt. 

 

“Don’t worry.” Lance smiled. “When I’m done with him, his mother won’t recognize him.” 

 

God, damn it. 

 

~*~

 

Keith feels ridiculous. Lance had combed and tugged his hair back into a french braid, which made his scalp hurt. Winged eyeliner and gold eyeshadow stretched back to his temples. And Christ help him there was even lipstick. A neutral color, but color none the less. 

 

At least he was allowed pants. Well, leggings, which he was accustomed to, but at least it wasn’t shorts. Gold accents curled up the sides. And a simple black tank top. There was absolutely nowhere to hide any weapons, so Keith strapped his luxite blade under the bar. He found three handguns already there. 

 

Rachel’s staff did not fuck around. 

 

Lance is...so goddamned beautiful it isn’t even fair. He’s wearing white leggings that lace up on the sides, and a loose blue shirt that’s cut away at his midriff. His makeup is minimal, at least compared to Keith’s, but there’s body glitter. Silver body glitter that highlights his cheeks and defined arms and his stomach. 

 

“Hey, Lira, got a rag?” Rachel smirked. “Keith’s drooling on my bar.” 

 

“Fuck off.” Keith muttered, looking down at his ice well. 

 

“Did you talk to him?” Rachel asked. 

 

“A bit.” 

 

“What did he tell you?” 

 

Keith watched Lance smile and preen as he passed out drinks at a table. He bends over slowly, stretching and displaying his legs just so. Keith is desperate enough to wish it was for him, but its not. 

 

“That he wants to see something beautiful.” 

 

Rachel patted Keith on the arm, and turned and walked away. Keith turned back to the guests, nodding at the off-duty Galra officer who asked for shots for him and Triste, tucked under his arm. Triste is not glaring at Keith, for the first time today, instead he’s pressed up against the officer and playing with the hem of his uniform shirt. His eyes look a little blurred. 

 

Keith pours the shots, and then pours some nunvil for a group of Alteans, and then Lance is back with an empty tray. 

 

“Anything yet?” he asks. 

 

Keith shakes his head. The group of Galra generals took up seats in the middle of the bar, and though every staff member was straining to hear, much of the conversation had been about the Rapilithor fights they had watched earlier in the day. 

 

Lance sighs. “Three martinis.” he tells Keith. “Dirty. And a Red Thunder.” 

 

“A what?” 

 

Lance rolled his eyes. “It’s on draft.” 

 

Keith started making the martinis, and Lance studied his nails. He had painted them blue to cover up the blackened one. 

 

“You’re not using enough dirty juice.” 

 

“You want to come back here and do this?” 

 

Lance huffed in annoyance. 

 

Rachel approached. “Lance? Got a minute?” 

 

“Yeah. What’s up?” 

 

“A client recognized you.” 

 

Lance shot her an annoyed look. “I don’t do private dances.” 

 

“They don’t want a dance. They want you to play.” 

 

“Really?”

 

“I’m just as surprised as you are.” 

 

Keith knocked his tins together to make sure they were sealed properly, then started to shake them in the three-point pattern Lira had shown him at the beginning of the shift. Lance’s eyes never left him as he argued with his sister. 

 

“Lance, clients request performances, and we deliver.” Rachel said quietly. “Normal evening, right? Besides, the less attention on Keith, the better.” 

 

Keith strained out the martinis and Lance rubbed his face. “Fine. Fine. Can you get my - “

 

“I’m having someone pick it up now. Thank you, hermanito.” 

 

Keith poured the beer while Lance scowled at his sister’s retreating back. A girl approached. A human girl. She has long blonde hair, blurry blue eyes, and green cracks in her lips. She’s high as a kite and exactly Lance’s type and Keith hates himself just for standing here.

 

“You’re Ziggy Stardust, right?” 

 

Lance gives her a wide smile. “That’s me.” 

 

“You’re going to play for us, right?” She turns and peers at Keith. “Hey...you kind of look like that guy. Are you an actor?” 

 

“Yes.” Lance interrupted. “I’m going to play.” 

 

“That’s so great! You’re sooo good. My boyfriend saw you once, on - “

 

Lance looks back at Keith and says, “This one’s for you.” Then he picks up his tray and vanishes. 

 

The girl blinks at Keith. Then. “Can I have a nunvil?” 

 

She doesn’t need one, but he gives it to her anyway, because Rachel’s clients get what they want. And Keith has a feeling that clubs on Rath Veris don’t get penalized for over-serving their guests like they do on more civilized planets. 

 

Keith makes a few more drinks before one of the kegs has to be changed. He heads into the back, and takes a moment to sit on a case of nunvil. The keg room is cool, and it’s only now that he realizes how hot it was behind the bar. That he had been sweating. 

 

The mission so far had been a colossal failure. All he had learned so far was how to shake drinks and the nuances of alien cock fighting. And he knew next to nothing about Rachel, but he knew she’d be teasing him for days for the way he couldn’t keep his eyes off of Lance. Which wasn’t his fault. Lance was the one who put on all that damn body glitter. It attracted the eye. 

 

What the hell was he doing here? 

 

After a few long minutes, he stood and started to change out the empty keg for a new one. This was closer to what he was used to. Grunt work. Through the open door, he heard a cheer go up. Lance must have taken the stage. 

 

It’s a few minutes of work. Shifting the heavy metal barrels. By the time he makes it back out, Lance is about halfway through his song. 

 

_ “Well I crippled your heart a hundred times and still can't work out why” _

 

Lance shimmered under the spotlight, brilliantly blue and white. The acoustic guitar he cradles bears a few scratches, but otherwise is well taken care of. 

 

_ “You see, I've got this disease I can't shake and I'm just rattling through life _

_ Well this is how we do things now, yeah this is how the modern stay scared _

_ So I cut out all the good stuff, yeah I cut off my foot to spite my leg” _

 

Rachel appeared at the doorway next to him. “Keith, here. While they’re distracted.” 

 

Rachel pushes a tiny bottle into his hand.

 

“I thought you said a tracker was too risky.” he said.

 

“It’s not. It’s a slightly radioactive alloy we can trace. Go. Quickly.” 

 

_ “Well is that you in front of me? _

_ Coming back for even more of exactly the same _

_ You must be a masochist to love a modern leper on his last leg _

_ Well I am ill but I'm not dead _

_ And I don't know which of those I prefer _

_ Because that limb which I have lost _

_ Well it was the only thing holding me up _

_ Holding me up” _

 

Keith quickly returns to the bar and weaves around the other bartenders, pressing against the ice well. The general’s attention is on the stage, and Keith thumbs off the cap of the bottle. 

 

“-could just eat him up.” one of the generals grumbles. 

 

“All the glitter would get stuck in your throat.” another pointed out. 

 

Keith’s hand shook, but he reigned it in. He dumped the liquid into a shaker, then poured in blue curacao and the Galran equivalent of vodka. Ice. Shake. Strain. He pushed the shots onto the bar and towards the generals. 

 

“On the house.” he said. 

 

They barely even looked at him as they drank. 

 

~*~

 

Lance, it turned out, had a few shots before his performance. And then had a few more after. Luckily it was the end of the night, and clients were slowly trickling out. Some waited by the exits for dancers. 

 

“Give me a shot.” 

 

Keith looked up from draining the ice wells to see Triste leaning on the bar. He’s staring determinedly at the gleaming wood, and probably would rather ask literally anyone else but the other bartenders were busy gossiping. 

 

“Uh…”

 

Behind Triste, the Galra officer he had been hanging off of all night waited by the door. 

 

“Your friend want one too?” 

 

“I need it more than he does.” Triste mumbled. 

 

Keith’s brain finally made the connection. “Triste, don’t do anything - “

 

“Yeah, well, some of us have rent to pay.” Triste cut across sharply. “Save it. Give me a shot.” 

 

“How old are you?” 

 

“Old enough to know what I’m doing.” 

 

Keith sighed and poured him a double. Triste toasted him and knocked it back in three gulps, then slammed the glass onto the bar. 

 

“Thanks. Good luck with Stardust.” 

 

“Uh, what?” 

 

But Triste was already walking away. Keith shook his head and picked up a rag to wipe down bottles. Triste wasn’t that young. He couldn’t be much older than he was when he started fighting a war. 

 

Maybe he was that young. 

 

Not his problem. Triste was choosing this, for whatever reason. Right now, his problems were figuring out how to take down the Iberian Pirates without starting a gang war. Making sure Rachel somehow achieved her power lust. Somehow getting all of this done before Shiro’s wedding. And...Lance. 

 

Lance is...well, at this point he’s drunk. He’s talking to the other bartenders and gesturing wildly, laughing too loudly. He only played a few songs, but he was acting funny afterwards. And, well, he hit the bar pretty hard. 

 

Keith finally finished cleaning up, and headed for Lance. “Hey, you ready?” 

 

Lance smiled briefly, then seemed to remember something and his face slipped into a pout. “Don’t wanna.” 

 

Keith sighed. “Lance…”

 

“That is a great idea.” Rachel smiled. “Go on, my car’s waiting.” 

 

Lance looked between Keith, Rachel, and the Azul staff. 

 

“Lance, we’ll see you tomorrow.” Lira reassured. “We’re all going home. Thanks for cleaning up, Keith.” 

 

Keith had a feeling the staff was going to some after hours bar, but he shot her a grateful look as he grabbed his luxite blade and jacket. Rachel murmured something about closing up and kissed her twin on the cheek. Lance shuffled after him and let his own jacket hang loosely at his side. They walked down the stairs, Lance silent for the first time all night. 

 

In the car, Lance stared out the window. 

 

“Lance, what’s wrong?” Keith asked. “Did you want to stay out?” 

 

“No.” 

 

Keith rubbed his face. He’s mad. He can feel it. He just doesn’t know why. They had to go with impromptu Plan B, but the night was an overall success. 

 

“You didn’t watch my set.” Lance throws out. “I told you it was for you.” 

 

Damn it. 

 

“I thought you were joking.” Keith said quietly. 

 

“You never pay attention to me.” Lance closed his eyes as he tipped his head against the window. “Not really.” 

 

How is Keith supposed to respond to that? How the hell is he supposed to tell him that Lance takes up the majority of his attention, of his conscience thought. How could he even say that, after everything Keith had done, after how far he’s traveled? After everything they’ve been through. 

 

But Lance doesn’t know. Because Keith doesn’t ever tell him.

 

“I was listening.” Keith admitted quietly. “And watching. You sounded great.” 

 

Lance huffed in disbelief. 

 

“I liked the first song. The leper one.” 

 

“Rachel always liked that one. You remind me of her.” 

 

Keith...doesn’t know how to feel about that. 

 

“You looked great up there.” he tried. 

 

Lance sighed. “Thanks.” 

 

The car slid to a stop in front of Rachel’s building, and Keith slid out onto the sidewalk and pulled Lance after him. He’s stumbling a little, and Keith has to hold in a chuckle. He looks a little like a baby gazelle. Keith darted around him to open the front door. 

 

“Such a gentleman.” Lance mocked. 

 

“Only for you.” Keith replies honestly. 

 

That lovely red color spread across Lance’s cheeks and nose again. He grinned and surged forward to wrap his arms around Keith. 

 

“I’m sorry.” Lance giggled. “I’m drunk.” 

 

“Yeah, you are.” Keith smiled. 

 

Lance didn’t let go, so Keith had to shuffle them both into the elevator. Lance tipped his head onto Keith’s shoulder. 

 

“Shiro says we’re codependent.” Lance mumbled. 

 

“When did he say that?” 

 

“I don’t know. A while ago. After we got in our fight.” 

 

Lance finally released him long enough to walk down the hall and unlock the door. Then he stumbled across the floor for the bathroom. Keith shrugged off his jacket and set his luxite blade on the counter before getting a glass of water. 

 

Was he not paying attention? 

 

He sat on the couch in the spot he had slept the night before. He pulled the hair tie from the end of his braid, and pulled fingers through his hair to undo the braid. Easy enough fix. Getting the makeup off would be a totally different story. 

 

The couch bounced when Lance fell onto the cushions next to him. 

 

“Lance, what are you doing?” Keith asked. 

 

“Mmm drunk. Wanna cuddle. Rachel’s not here. Hunk’s not here.” Lance turned over and held an arm up. “Please?”

 

Keith sighed. “Fine.” 

 

Lance’s grin could have lit up the whole world. 

 

“This body glitter is going to get everywhere.” Keith grumbled. 

 

“Man, you have no idea.” Lance closed his eyes. “I figured out how to fix everything. 

 

“Yeah?” 

 

Lance nodded. “Got it all figured out.” 

 

Keith bit his lip and Lance wrapped one of his legs around Keith too, like a koala. 

 

“Tell you tomorrow.” Lance promised. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope Lance doesn't come across as too distant. Keith and Lance still have a little farther to go before they can come together. 
> 
> The song is "The Modern Leper" by Frightened Rabbit. According to my friend who showed me the album, Midnight Organ Fight is the only good album they ever wrote. The songwriter went through a nasty breakup and the album was the product. I like this song best. I felt it really would strike home with Lance, who still doesn't quite believe he's deserving of love. 
> 
> As always, let me know what you think. I love reading all your comments. And if anyone has any good fics worth reading, let me know. I'm always looking for something good to read.


	11. Chapter 11

_ Keith stood next to Lance at the window. The palace they’re in is gorgeous. The planet is beautiful and lush. The raid outside is acidic.  _

 

_ “Figures.” Lance grumbled. “We’re finally on a planet with rain, and we can’t even go out in it.”  _

 

_ “We could borrow their special umbrellas.” Keith suggested.  _

 

_ “Won’t be the same.”  _

 

_ This is a strange time. Lance is in his blue Paladin armor, but he’s flying in Red. Keith is in his black and purple Blade suit. They just happened to both be needed here. They don’t know where the others went. They’re just having a quiet moment at the window.  _

 

_ The first thing Keith noticed was that Lance’s shoulders have somehow gotten broader. Maybe it’s just the armor, but he’s looking less like a lanky teenager and more like an adult. A soldier.  _

 

_ The second thing Keith notices is that he looks exhausted.  _

 

_ Keith is torn between finding the courage to ask him if everything’s okay, and trying to keep the distance he knows he needs.  _

 

_ “Do you ever think...the longer we spend out here, the more we lose?”  _

 

_ Keith looks over at him, but the piercing blue eyes are on the acid falling from the sky.  _

 

_ “I just feel like...thinks keep getting taken away from me. One day...what if I wake up and I lose my memories? Or my language? What will I do?”  _

 

_ Keith frowned. “What did you lose?” _

 

_ Keith would never forget the look Lance gave him that day. It was so...he had expected something from Keith. For him to know what he was talking about, and Keith just had no idea. And the disappointment on his face was more heartbreaking than the carefully curated distance between them.  _

 

_ “Nevermind.” Lance said quietly, turning away. “Come on. We should find the others.” _

 

~*~

 

Keith woke up and found that he couldn’t move. 

 

He stared blankly at the expanse of couch stretching away from him, listening to Lance’s steady breath in his ear. An unfamiliar bag sat on the other end of the cushions. Kosmo had returned from his most recent mysterious adventure through space-time and was sleeping on the floor. A leg was hooked around his knees, and his arm was pinned to his chest. Keith tried to move his other arm out from under him, which made Lance squeeze him tighter.

 

Jesus, was this kid part octopus or something? 

 

Keith carefully rolled and shimmied out of Lance’s grasp, moving his torso first before sliding his legs away. Lance sighed and pushed his face into the pillow they had been sharing.

 

Keith stumbled to the bathroom to pee. The shower was on, but Rachel had walked in on him changing the day before and ignored his prudish blush to start doing her hair. So, Keith figured it wouldn’t be the end of the world if he used the toilet while she showered. 

 

Coffee. He desperately needed coffee. He shuffled into the kitchen to get the machine started. On the counter, his communicator blipped at him. He ran a hand through his hair, and grimaced when it came away covered in glitter. 

 

**You have one (1) new message.**

 

Lance was still asleep, his feet kicked off the edge of the couch. Keith waited until the coffee was done before taking his mug and communicator out to Rachel’s tiny balcony. She had two chairs, an absolutely miniscule table, and an overflowing ashtray. He had yet to see Rachel smoke, so he wondered who the ashtray was for. 

 

Once he was settled, and had a sip of coffee, he played the message. Shiro’s face filled the small screen. He looked exhausted, and Keith was about to find out why. 

 

“Keith, can you please explain to me why, why in the name of everything I’ve ever loved and cherished, is Hunk sending me photos of you and Lance snuggling?” 

 

Keith’s throat suddenly went dry. He was so grateful he didn’t answer the call. 

 

“You know what? I don’t want to know.” Shiro mumbled, rubbing his face. “The outfits though...Keith, what the hell is going on? I mean...I’m glad you’re finally taking a vacation. I’m glad you’re talking to Lance again. But...Rath Veris? I mean, Lance mentioned he had danced a bit - “ 

 

Off screen, Curtis let out a sharp laugh. “He mentioned? Don’t lie to him, we both saw that video. You blushed like an anime school girl the whole time.” 

 

“Curtis, sweetheart, I am trying to be a disapproving father figure. Keith, if you or Lance need help, any kind of help, I can be planetside in a few vargas - “

 

“Like hell you will! You still need to get your tux fitted, and your mother is driving me insane. Deal with her.” 

 

Shiro glared off camera. “You know, sometimes I wonder why the hell we’re having this wedding in the first place.” 

 

“Well you asked me, so maybe you should figure that out.” 

 

Keith bit his lip as the message ran out of time and cut out. Wedding stress, he supposed. Figures that what would worry Shiro most was photos of him and Lance snuggling. How had he gotten the photos in the first place? He had said Hunk…

 

Keith jolted out of his seat and stared in horror at the backpack on the couch, and then at Rachel in her bathrobe standing by the fridge. She looked perfectly dry. Keith ripped the sliding door aside as the bathroom door opened, releasing a cloud of steam and Hunk’s imposing figure. 

 

Keith couldn’t think of a single time before this that he was unhappy to see the Yellow Paladin. 

 

“You can’t be here.” Keith blurted. 

 

Hunk rose an eyebrow. “Hey, Keith. Good to see you too.” 

 

Keith looked at Rachel. “You said - “ 

 

The front door opened with a bang. “What’s up, nerds?” Pidge crowed. 

 

On the couch, Lance whimpered and sat up. “Madre de dios, Keith, shut up.” 

 

“You shouldn’t be here!” Keith growled. “You’re going to screw everything up!” 

 

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, team leader.” Pidge said coolly, letting the door drop shut behind her. “Sorry if we interrupted your date.” 

 

Keith sputtered. “It’s not - we won’t - this is a serious mission!” 

 

Hunk gave a humorless laugh. “Yeah, serious enough that you might, you know, want your old teammates here. Us all being former Paladins of Voltron and all.” 

 

“Besides, you have a tendency to make things way more dramatic than they need to, and Lance has a habit of encouraging you.” 

 

Rachel was looking between the paladins like a three way tennis match, but didn’t seem to want to get involved past that. Pidge was scowling, miles away from her exuberant entrance. Hunk had a carefully neutral look on his face. Keith scowled at both of them. 

 

“Keith, it’s fine.” Lance finally broke the silence. “Hey guys, good to see you.” 

 

No one said a word as Lance crawled off the couch. 

 

“Really.” Lance said, touching Keith’s arm to make him stand down. “We’re going to need their help.”

 

Pidge lasered in on the gesture. 

 

“I need some advil.” Lance mumbled, heading towards the kitchenette. 

 

~*~

 

A pot of coffee and a quick reassuring text to Shiro that everything was fine, and their strange war council convened at the breakfast bar. Lance was struggling through his hangover but managing barbed comments at Pidge and his sister. Hunk had thrown together a quiche while seeming torn between ignoring Keith and trying to talk it out. Keith was feeding Kosmo pieces of bacon that didn’t make it into the quiche. 

 

This was all off to a really bad start. 

 

“Okay.” Lance said, finishing the end of his sickly sweet but black coffee. “We need to talk. Hunk, Pidge, in spite of Keith’s rudeness, we’re happy you’re here.” 

 

“S’alright, we’re used to it.” Pidge shot Keith a teasing grin. 

 

Lance nodded to Rachel, who launched into an explanation of the situation. Keith noticed, not for the first time, how she seemed to minimize her role on the planet. But honestly, with their roles in the Garrison, the less Hunk and Pidge knew the better…

 

Keith watched Lance get up to make himself another cup of coffee. He was strangely precise in how much sugar went in. One, two large spoonfuls, then less than half...what was he planning? He had been so secretive up until now. Insisting no one be involved in anything to do with Rath Veris. But suddenly allowing Pidge and Hunk to be involved just because they showed up? 

 

_ Maybe he just missed them, _ he thought as he stared at his own completely black coffee. It made him wonder if Lance would have done this job for his sister without him if he hadn’t shown up. If Lance just waited for people in his life to show up, instead of reaching out when he needed them. Or maybe he didn’t need Keith at all. 

 

“I don’t understand why you need us to help you blow up a couple of ships.” Hunk said, frowning at his best friend. 

 

“Yeah, you never needed our help with that before.” Pidge slurped her coffee. 

 

“When was the last time either of us made anything explode?” Keith asked. 

 

“You do realize I can hack the Blade’s footage logs, right? I can’t believe people actually believe you only do relief work.” 

 

“We’re not going to make anything explode.” Lance smiled, looking up from stirring his coffee. 

 

“Seriously?” Rachel asked. “I literally asked you here to blow something up.” 

 

“Yeah, I’m out.” Pidge grinned. 

 

Lance sighed. “Fine. Maybe we can make one small thing explode. But, Rach, I don’t think you understand...look, to blow up a ship with explosives you either need really high grade explosives that the Garrison will  _ know  _ you took, or a literal fuckton of small explosives that will take forever to place. Anything less than that, they can repair the ship and you’ll be dealing with this problem again in six months.” 

 

“I could write a code for you.” Pidge offered. “But Lance didn’t want me involved, so - “ 

 

“And he is quickly regretting cutting his friends out of his life, and fun projects he’s working on.” Lance covered quickly. “Besides, I have a way better idea. How does everyone feel about a hostile takeover?” 

 

The Paladins and club owner stared at Lance, who was wearing a grin that was a little too smart for anyone’s good. His eyes sparkled with a secret, and Keith’s heart gave a painful thump. Because this is the Lance who dragged his friends out after curfew, who stole loose change from a fountain to buy Pidge a game, who always knew how to drag the rest of them along with him. 

 

“No way.” Hunk frowned. 

 

“Hunk.”  

 

“Nu-uh.” 

 

“Buddy.” 

 

“I’m a diplomat, Lance.” Hunk said flatly. “I’ve made a career out of making people talk and put down guns. It would be hypocritical to pick one up again.” 

 

Lance deflated a little. 

 

“Then why are you here?” Rachel asked rudely. 

 

“Rachel.” Lance sighed. 

 

“It’s a fair question.” she snapped. 

 

“Hunk, if you don’t want to help, I can find someone else.” Lance said flatly. “But it would mean a lot to me if you helped me with this.” 

 

Hunk was visibly uncomfortable. “I don’t know Lance. The Iberians haven’t done anything but...steal some things, and - “

 

“They killed one of my girls.” Rachel said sharply. “And she wasn’t the first. They want to throw this planet into chaos. The Coalition might turn a blind eye to us - “

 

“No one is ignoring things here. Rath Veris has never wanted external help - “ 

 

“-but the next planet they target will not be as capable of defending itself. Is that what you want?” 

 

Keith watched Rachel’s indignant expression, so similar to Lance’s, and looked for a crack in the facade. He had to wonder if she really believed what she was saying to convince Hunk. Maybe a part of her was truly altruistic, and wanted to stop the Iberians before they did serious damage. She was Lance’s twin, after all. 

 

But then he remembered her razor sharp smile when she talked about her investments, the look in her eye when she told her brother she would break her own rules to come out on top. And he thinks, maybe the real similarity between Rachel and Lance is that they’re both incredibly good actors when they want to be. 

 

“Like I said.” Lance said quietly. “I’m not going to make anyone do this. So, Hunk, you can take your time to decide. But I would really appreciate the help.” 

 

Hunk looked at the counter top with a frown. 

 

“Pidge? You in?” 

 

Pidge gave a dramatic sigh. “Well, I did have plans this weekend.”

 

“ _ Pidge _ .” 

 

“I’ll always cancel for you, Lance.” 

 

Lance, instead of smiling, gave her a suspicious look. “Is this why Shiro loves you so much? The blatant ass kissing and lies?”

 

“Is it working?” 

 

“Yes.” 

 

Rachel snorted and sipped her coffee. 

 

“Keith?” 

 

Keith looked up to find Lance looking directly at him for the first time this morning. 

 

“Are you in?” 

 

“You have to ask?” Keith wondered. 

 

A ghost of a smile flitted across his face for a moment, then he turned away. “Right. I need to shower. Rachel, I’m going to put together a shopping list for you. Think you can handle it?” 

 

“I can put Triste on it.” She nodded. “What kinds of things?” 

 

“Bit of this, bit of that.” He shrugged. “None of it should be too hard to find.” 

 

“That’s what you said last time.” she mumbled. 

 

“What happened last time?” Pidge asked. 

 

Rachel just shook her head. “Took me four days to find date sugar. But Princess Lance gets what he wants.” 

 

Lance ignored the jibe and stood, stretching his arms above his head. “I really need to shower. Get this glitter off.”

 

Keith self-consciously swiped at the glitter he knew was on his neck. Pidge smirked at him. 

 

“You’re getting all that crap off my couch.” Rachel called after her brother. 

 

~*~

 

Rachel left for Triste’s apartment, and when Lance finally got out of the shower Keith cleaned himself up. The Paladins left the apartment to buy groceries - as they had depleted everything Rachel had, aside from her collection of marinated eggplant. 

 

“So, what’s going on with you two?” 

 

Keith looked down at Pidge, walking alongside him. She was typing away on a tablet as they went. 

 

“What?” 

 

“You and Lance.” The  _ no, duh _ was clearly implied in her tone. “You looked pretty close in the picture Hunk sent out.” 

 

Christ, had Hunk sent that picture to the entire galaxy?

 

“It doesn’t mean anything.” Keith muttered. “He was drunk and wanted to cuddle.” 

 

Pidge stopped typing for a moment, then shook her head and resumed. “I swear to God Keith, you have not gotten any smarter over the years. Can you two just like...make out already? And if it’s good keep doing it and if it’s not stop making the rest of us suffer.” 

 

Up ahead, Lance and Hunk walked side by side. In spite of the tense morning and Hunk’s indecision, Lance was jabbering away like nothing was wrong. They had all opted for dark, casual clothes to help them blend in, but Lance somehow manages to look put together without any effort. 

 

“Pidge - “

 

“Yeah, yeah, boohoo Lance never had a thing for you before and he doesn’t now.” Pidge rolled her eyes. “It’s honestly starting to get a bit boring.” 

 

Keith kept his eyes on the figured in front of them. “Now’s not the time for that conversation. We have to do this job, and then there’s the wedding, and I have work to get back to at some point.” 

 

“Yes, here we all are, becoming mercenaries just because he asks.” Pidge shook her head. “I get that you guys didn’t want us here, and I understand why. Hunk and I could lose our jobs if it comes out that we’re involved in this. But you’re the best known of all of us. Anyone could recognise you and know something’s up. So, did you ever consider why he asked you to come?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am...*pauses for dramatic effect*...so sorry. 
> 
> I feel like I haven't updated in weeks. I've been baking like a mad woman. Long story known as "The Marmalade Chronicles". I've also decided the title of my autobiography will be "Tipsy at Wegman's". Anyway, sorry it's a little short. I wanted to have something to give you guys without waiting another week. 
> 
> Anyway. Chapter Eleven. Even Pidge is getting bored with how fucking long it's taking to get to the point. But we're getting there. Promise. I finally have the actual mission somewhat planned out, so I should be able to write a little faster. Provided I find the time.


	12. Chapter 12

_ “Do you miss her?”  _

 

_ It’s Acxa who asks him, one quiet night as they travel from one system to another. Trying to reach the place they’re needed most.  _

 

_ “Of course I do.” Keith replies gruffly. “She was my friend.”  _

 

_ Acxa doesn’t say anything. They rarely speak to each other. They’re both quiet people. Usually they need Zethrid and Ezor to fill the silence for them. Lance used to do that for Keith. Until Keith allowed things to get so fucked up that they barely spoke, and then they did speak and Keith said all those stupid things so now they didn’t speak at all.  _

 

_ “I miss all of them.” Keith admitted quietly.  _

 

~*~

 

Triste shows up in the early afternoon. He’s wrapped in a large overcoat and has yet to do his makeup. Lance had explained that as Rachel’s deputy, Triste would be leading one of three teams he needed to make this mission succeed. Lance wanted to outline the plan so he and Triste could choose fighters, and give Triste his shopping list. 

 

In spite of his late night with the Galra officer, Triste looks to be in pretty good shape. He gives Keith a curt nod, then zeroes in on Hunk. 

 

“Well, hello, there.” he grins, leaning into Hunk’s personal space as he sits at the table and types out a message to his staff, informing them he’s away for a few more days. “What star system did you fall out of?” 

 

Hunk leans away from the Altean, almost looking a little frightened. Keith cringes, reminded of a much younger Lance. 

 

Lance sighs and rubs his eyes. “Wrong tree, Triste.” 

 

Triste’s gaze swings around to Lance and speaks as if Hunk suddenly doesn’t exist. “Straight?” 

 

“Girlfriend.” 

 

Triste pouts, and Keith has a sudden urge to laugh. 

 

“Is it a rule that all Paladins have to be gorgeous and spoken for?” Triste grumbles. 

 

“Don’t look at me, buddy.” Pidge says, kicking her feet up on the table. 

 

“Can I have my list?” Triste asks. 

 

“I want to go over the plan.” Lance reminded. “Take a seat.” 

 

“I have to get to work.” 

 

“Rachel knows where you are.” 

 

Triste grimaced and sat. Keith leaned against a counter top, watching Lance throw a hologram of one of the Iberian ships into the air. 

 

“Instead of blowing the Iberians to hell, like my nightmare of a sister wants,” Lance explained, lowering the lights in the apartment. His face glowed purple in the light of the hologram. “We are going to take over the three flagships. This will disable the Iberians, and Rachel will acquire three starships. And I will be in the clear for Christmas and birthday gifts for at least five years.” 

 

Pidge sighed wistfully. “I wish Matt would give me a starship.” 

 

“Save it for your Christmas list, Pidget.” Lance advised. “A plan like this needs perfect timing. If one team succeeds while the other does not, we all lose. We’re going to have three teams. Team one led by Triste, Team two by Pidge, and Team three by Keith - “ 

 

“No.” Keith says. 

 

Every eye in the room turns to look at him, even Cosmo, who had been sleeping peacefully under Pidge’s feet. 

 

“You should lead.” Keith says to Lance. “It’s...it’s your plan. And your mission. I don’t want...you should lead the third team.” 

 

Pidge’s eyebrows are practically in her hairline, and Triste looks confused. Hunk is studying Keith, like he’s seeing something strange. But Lance’s face breaks into a smile. 

 

“Yeah. Okay.” he nods. “I’ll lead the third team. Here’s what we’re going to do.” 

 

~*~

 

Lance makes them practice. 

 

It’s different, having Lance in charge. Keith had often put Lance in charge back in the day, leaving him to get the others to safety or having him in charge of a secondary team. But he had never actually witnessed it. Not really. 

 

Lance is calculated. He has every aspect of the plan accounted for, and he makes them all recite it again and again. Until they each can pick up from any part of it and recite it backwards. Until Keith dreams it. 

 

In spite of the plan, and Lance’s insistence that it will work perfectly, Keith feels uneasy. First, the fact that Hunk is sticking around but will not be executing the plan with them. Instead the Yellow Paladin looks on with a frown as they all prepare, makes them meals and scowls at the program Pidge is building to help with the take over. 

 

Then, there’s the tendency for Team Voltron’s plans to...well...go flying off the tracks and smash into the nearest exploding star. Keith can barely remember the last time any of their missions went perfectly. He hopes that maybe Lance being in charge will change things, maybe all this practicing will make it go smoothly, maybe without the literal fate of the universe on their shoulders it’ll be a cake walk. 

 

Then there’s the plan itself, which gives an air of something missing. Like Lance is purposely leaving something out. But Keith can’t put his finger on it, and Lance seems so certain, so he lets it slide. 

 

Triste takes a few days to get together the items on his shopping list, but Rachel has given him a few days off to focus on the mission. He and Lance sit up at night, muttering as they comb through reports and select fighters from Rachel’s staff. Keith wants to help, wants to be the one sitting up late with Lance, but doesn’t know how…

 

He falls back on old habits. Occupying a practice room in Azul to train while bass thumps under his feet. Every night when he returns, Triste is gone and Lance is on the couch, silent. Keith can’t tell if he’s awake or asleep, and they don’t speak. 

 

Why is this so hard? When it was just the two of them, things were fine. They could talk freely, and Lance smiled. Suddenly there’s a weight over him again, and Keith wonders if he’s to blame. Lance had been more than ready to defer to his leadership, but Keith insisted…

 

Pidge sleeps upstairs in Rachel’s room, and Hunk was on an air mattress on the floor, and Keith and Lance stick to opposite ends of the couch. Bathroom time in the morning was a nightmare, and Rachel constantly grumbled “I do own several hotels, you know”. But she doesn’t kick anyone out, so they all stay. 

 

Triste shows up the morning before the big day with two bulging duffle bags, which he and Lance unpack and lay out across the couch. There’s several body suits that look suspiciously like they once belonged to the Blade of Mamora, some low grade explosives, comms, a few storage devices for Pidge’s program, charge packs, and weapons. Keith finally feels useful as he helps Lance sort the weapons by type, and start deciding who will carry what. 

 

“Pidge, here.” Lance said, holding out a small handgun. “I know you’ve been practicing with your bo staff, but just in case.” 

 

Pidge took the gun and stared at it forlornly. “I miss my bayard.” 

 

The bayards, of course, disappeared with the Lions. It hadn’t affected Keith much - he still had his mother’s blade. She had given it to him when she became a full-time diplomat. Obviously, things were different for the other paladins. 

 

Keith continues to sort weapons for the four members on Rachel’s staff that will be on the mission - two with Triste, and two with Pidge. Lance had claimed that he and Keith could easily be a team by themselves, which was maybe another sign for Keith that Lance was withholding information. 

 

Hunk had pursed his lips. 

 

Lance was unpacking a third bag, the heavy one he had brought from Earth with him. Tucked away under the guitar case was his own gear. 

 

“Why does he have that stuff?” Pidge whispered, as they watched Lance hold up a black bodysuit with electric blue accents. “I thought he was a farm-boy now.” 

 

Keith frowned. “This isn’t the first job he’s done for Rachel.” 

 

Lance laid out a long sniper rifle, a medium-sized blaster, twin handguns, charge packs for everything, and a curved sabre. He pulled the blade half-way from the sheath and studied the edge, then snapped it shut.  

 

“Since when do you have that?” Keith demanded. 

 

Lance’s eyes snapped over to him, and he looked puzzled for a moment, before he grinned. “Jealous?” 

 

“You don’t know how to use a sword.” Keith huffed. Swords were his thing, damn it.

 

“I do, actually.” Lance carefully laid the sabre next to the sniper rifle. “My bayard could turn into a longsword. I prefer this, though. It’s a bit lighter, and I can use it one handed.” 

 

“Who taught you?” Keith demanded. 

 

“Allura was supposed to.” Lance looked away. “Never found the time, I guess. Coran practiced with me, though.” 

 

A heavy silence filled the air. Hunk was grimacing, and Keith felt irrationally angry. Hunk had said Allura had never been fair to Lance. Obviously, it went further than anyone thought…

 

“Whatever man.” Lance said, his tone suddenly light. “You don’t have to tell me how cool it is. It’s okay to be jealous.” 

 

Keith gaped at him for a moment, then felt a childish urge to say, “Yeah, well, you didn’t say anything when my bayard turned into a gun, so…”

 

Lance gave him a flat look. “I didn’t need to say anything, mullet. That gun made its own statement. Anything else would have been overkill.” 

 

“Alright boys, you both have cool weapons.” Pidge said loftily. 

 

“Stardust, is that it?” Triste asked impatiently. “I still have to acquire those shuttles.”

 

Lance turned away from Keith. “Yeah, go. Get some sleep tonight. Tell everyone we’ll meet here at the fifteenth varga.” 

 

Triste gave him a mocking salute and left. Keith goes back to sorting the supplies, seeing as it’s the only thing he can do, and feels eyes on him. Pidge stretches and cracks her joints, then says something about going out for a drink. 

 

Keith barely registers Hunk saying he’ll join her, and Lance declining. Keith sits on the couch with the smallest body suit, popping open the control panel in the arm. He fiddles with the controls, finally finding the color settings. He flips through several hues before finding a brilliant green color to accent the black. 

 

“I’m going to the pool.” 

 

Keith looks up - when did Lance change - to see the Cuban in swim trunks with a towel slung over his bar shoulder. He looks uncertain, but about what Keith has no idea. 

 

“There’s a pool?” Keith asks dumbly. 

 

Lance snorted. “Look around this place. Of course there’s a pool. A real one, too. Not the ceiling kind.” 

 

Keith’s lip twitched. They never did figure out how to get up there. 

 

“Anyway, uhm, you should come. To relax.” Lance scratched the back of his head. “You know. If you want.” 

 

Keith’s mind goes completely blank. 

 

“Right.” Lance huffed, turning around and heading for the door. “See you.” 

 

Keith listens to the door open and close, then turns around to make sure Lance actually left. It’s only then that he groans and hides his face in his hands. 

 

What the hell is wrong with him? He was pretty sure he resembled a fish just now. Mouth open and staring. He’d been admittedly grumpy that Lance had been with Triste all week, and now he’s offering and Keith just...stared at him like an utter moron. 

 

Well, par for the course, really. 

 

Keith glanced around the empty apartment. He could sit here. Dicking around with the body suits and weapons. Or go to the practice room above Azul and train until his body hurt more than his embarrassment. 

 

Lance could have easily gone out with Hunk and Pidge. Or swam alone, if he wanted to. But he asked Keith to join him. 

 

The other day, Pidge had pointed out that Lance actually wanted Keith here. On this mission. He could have reassured Keith that he was fine, back on Earth, and sent him on his way. Accepted his apology, told him he’d call, and fix their friendship gradually over the phone. Instead, he asked for help. Sold Keith on the idea of running one more dangerous mission. 

 

Maybe Keith had to start paying better attention to the details of what Lance wasn’t saying. 

 

Before he really knows what he’s doing, he’s heading for the door. He doesn’t have swim trunks, or even shorts, but he doesn’t have to go into the water to keep Lance company. He’s outside the apartment and in front of the elevator before he realizes he has no idea where the pool is. 

 

Well, as long as he doesn’t end up climbing up an elevator shaft in the dark…

 

He presses every button on the lift. Might as well be through. 

 

The fifth time the doors open, he’s on the top floor and can feel the moisture in the air. Keith steps out of the elevator and strains to hear the gentile slap of water on tile. He pushes through a set of frosted glass doors and finds himself in a room with high glass ceilings. Ornate iron frames the windows, which stretch from the floor to the heavens, then curve back to meet the wall behind him. It would be an incredible view, if the smog outside didn’t cover everything in a grew haze.

 

Has Keith mentioned today that he hates Rath Veris? Because he hates Rath Veris. 

 

Lance is doing laps in the huge pool, and right now he’s lunging out of the water towards the far end of the pool in a perfect butterfly. His hands slap against the tile, but instead of stopping he’s gripping the edge and curling his legs under himself, then launching back to backstroke. 

 

Keith steps out of his shoes and rolls up his pant legs, then sits on the edge of the pool with his feet in the water. Lance doesn’t seem to notice him as he swims by, and when he gets close to the other end of the pool he rolls over to execute a professional tumble turn before jetting out to breast stroke back. 

 

Keith closes his eyes. Lance’s breast stroke is almost silent. The water it just a little cool, but perfect temperature for Keith’s feet to be in. 

 

A hand curls around Keith’s ankle…

 

Keith jerks his foot up, his eyes shooting open. He’s greeted with Lance’s shit eating grin. 

 

“Asshole!” Keith gasped, wrenching his food out of his grasp. 

 

“The look on your face!” Lance laughed. 

 

“I could’ve kicked you!” 

 

“Nah, you wouldn’t have.” Lance’s grin is lazy as he treads water, his hair heavy and plastered to his face. “You getting in?” 

 

Keith shook his head. “Don’t have trunks.” 

 

Lance latched onto the edge of the pool to give his legs a break. “Suit yourself.” 

 

Silence washed over them. Lance was idly tracing wet patterns on the stone while Keith kicked his legs in the water. Lance hummed the song Rizavi had recorded him playing. 

 

**_And you listen to the music and you’d like to sing along,_ **

**_And you want to get the meaning out of each and every song._ **

**_And you find yourself a message and some words to call your own,_ **

**_And take them home._ **

 

“You ready for tomorrow?” Keith asked. 

 

Lance let out a long breath. “As I’ll ever be. You?” 

 

“I suppose.” 

 

“You know the plan?”

 

“I know the plan.” 

 

Keith stretched out his legs, just lifting his feet out of the water, then let them drop again. 

 

“Do you think it’ll work?” Lance asked quietly. 

 

Keith had his doubts. But now wasn’t the time for that. Lance had that vulnerable look on his face again, and Keith can’t help but melt a little. 

 

“I trust you.” he said instead. “I trust your plan. And I...you’re a good leader, Lance. Better than me.” 

 

Lance looked away. “You’re the Black Paladin.” 

 

“It should have been you.” 

 

Keith doesn’t know why he says it, but he had been thinking it. Especially over the last few days. Things could have been so different.

 

“I think about it a lot.” Keith admitted, while Lance refused to look at him. “Why Black chose me when I wasn’t ready. Some days, I think, maybe it was because Red needed you. Other days I wonder if Shiro interfered.” 

 

“You don’t have to say it to make me feel better.” Lance grumbled. “I don’t need - “

 

“I’m not.” Keith said, the words coming out harsher than he meant. Why is it always an argument? “I mean it. You’ve always been...better. At this. At...getting people together. Us together. Getting us to work for you. Do you remember when I came back? When Shiro - or the clone - went nuts?” 

 

Lance was silent. 

 

“I didn’t even know what to do.” Keith admitted. “It was just too much. You didn’t even hesitate. You just took charge, covered all the bases.” 

 

“It didn’t make a difference.” Lance mumbled. 

 

“You couldn’t have known that Shiro would attack.” 

 

Lance’s brow furrowed. “I knew something was wrong with him. I just didn’t…” he sighed, and rubbed his face. “It doesn’t matter, anyway. It’s all in the past.” Lance finally looked at him. “If...if Black had chosen me, would you have stayed?” 

 

Keith wants to say yes. He wants to tell Lance he would have stayed in Red, because Lance would have needed him as a right hand. To make the split second decisions when Lance’s meticulous plans go wrong. When the chaos train slams into them from left field. He wants to say that they could have figured out Shiro’s return together, and maybe everything would have turned out differently. Maybe the war would have ended differently. 

 

But he remembers the place he was in at the time, and he can’t be sure. 

 

“Nevermind.” Lance said quietly. Then, his voice got stronger. “You coming in the pool, or what?” 

 

“Lance, I told you - “ 

 

Lance grabs his legs again, and this time he uses his feet to push off the wall and pull Keith with him. Keith lets out a shriek that he’s, quite frankly, ashamed of and spends two seconds airborne before smacking into the water. Cold water fills his mouth and ears, freezing his scalp and soaking him through. His arms flail as he kicks Lance off and fights to break the surface. 

 

Lance is howling with laughter when Keith sputters and spits out water, pushing hair out of his eyes. 

 

“You look like a wet cat!” Lance shrieks, clutching his gut and barely keeping his head above water. 

 

Keith can’t move in these wet clothes. They’re weighing him down. So he drags his heavy shirt over his head and throws it at the Cuban, who’s too busy laughing his ass off to get out of the way. Keith unbuttons his pants next and kicks them off, tossing them up on the pool ledge. Thank heavens he had worn reasonable underwear today…

 

“So, how’s the water?” Lance grins at him. 

 

Keith launches himself at him, suddenly not caring who was supposed to be the Black Paladin. Or that once again they might die tomorrow. Lance lets out an unholy shriek and speeds away, the sounds of their play echoing off the tile and high windows. 

 

As if either of them would ever be able to relax. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am an honest to God crazy person. I started writing like, five hours ago. Saying, ok, get a few pages done. Get to bed early. It is now way past my bed time and I somehow have produced nine pages of what currently seems like decent work. 
> 
> As always, let me know what you think! I love reading all the comments. Especially those who comment every week. :)


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SO SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED

The Paladins of Voltron sit in Rachel McClain’s living room, and get ready for battle. 

 

So much has changed, Keith can barely recognize any of them. Pidge paces and carefully coils a wire around her forearm for safe keeping, her bo staff lying on the ground and ready for her. Keith doesn’t have any supplies, just his mother’s knife. He sits and watches Lance systematically pack away weapons and charge packs into his tight black suit. Hunk, in line with his attitude for the past few days, just sits and watches them. 

 

With Lance distracted, Keith can look at him. Like, really, truly look at him. He’s looked at him, of course, because he’s just so distracting, but not actually…

 

He’s regained something. It’s in the way he stands tall and double and triple checks the equipment. His hair’s gotten really long. It curls around his cheek bones and tickles his glowing blue markings. His eyes are so clear and just...startlingly blue. They’re almost as vivid as the electric markings on his suit. 

 

Was he always that beautiful? Probably. But it’s the confidence that pulls it together. Real confidence, not the fake bravado of their youth. 

 

Lira talks quietly with the two other members of Rachel’s staff, a lilac-skinned werithian armed with nothing more than his own hands, and the galran stripper Iryun, who apparently was Rachel’s best thief. 

 

Triste leans against the wall with his arms crossed. Keith finally notices him staring and walks over. 

 

“You ready?” 

 

Triste raised an eyebrow. “Are you?” 

 

Keith snorted. “I’ve been doing this for a long time.” 

 

Triste hummed. “Well, just make sure you don’t get distracted.”

 

Keith scowled, but looked back at Lance anyway. He was carefully strapping his sword across his back, the last piece in his personal arsenal. He looked up and met Keith’s gaze, and a funny thing happened. A slow, curling smile spread across his face. 

 

And Keith knew, right there, that it was just for him. He was the only one who got that smile. And he wanted to own it. He wanted to wake up to that smile. He wanted to look up across the dinner table and see that smile. 

 

And he knew that Lance had to want that too. 

 

But there was just one last thing he had to say to clear the air. 

 

He doesn’t get a moment alone with Lance for a while. Lance makes them all recite the plan one last time. Then they carefully leave the apartment in staggered teams. Keith leaves alone, and Lance stays behind to escort Pidge. 

 

Lance finally boards Keith’s jet, stopping to give Kosmo the obligatory ear scratch, and immediately asks, “Can I drive?” 

 

Keith snorted. “I’d rather not die before we even get to the mission.”

 

Lance scowled but slid into the vacant co-pilot seat. He reached to fit his com to his ear, and Keith briefly panicked. He did not need everyone hearing this. 

 

“Hey, Lance, hold on a second.” 

 

Lance let the com drop. “What’s up, man?” 

 

“I just…”

 

Lance is staring at him, concerned. 

 

“...I wanted to apologize.” 

 

“You already did.” Lance reminded. “We’re cool. Now, come on - “

 

“No, I…” Keith took a deep breath. “I wanted to apologize for leaving the team.”

 

“Man, that was ages ago, it’s okay - “

 

“No, it’s not.” Keith looked away. “I was being selfish. I tried to tell myself I was leaving to fix things with the team, but I was...abandoning everyone. You especially. And when I got back there was never the time or words and...I’m sorry.” 

 

Lance was looking at him with an unreadable expression. It’s probably not a great idea to open such old wounds. Especially just before a mission that relies so much on precision. But Lance is tougher than he looks. 

 

“Keith? I’m sorry too.” 

 

Keith frowned. “What are you apologizing for?” 

 

“I didn’t ask you to stay.” Lance said simply. He faced forward and pushed on the com his ear. “Come on, we need to get going.” 

 

Keith stared at him. 

 

“Alright team, look alive.” Lance sang into the com. “Roll call. First, the fearsome Black Paladin, the ninja-master of the Blade of Mamora, voted the Galaxy’s second most eligible bachelor - Keith Kogane!” 

 

Keith’s face burned. “Quit dicking around, Lance.” 

 

“Keith! Turn on your com! Say hello to the team!” 

 

“You can see I’m right here.” 

 

“But they can’t.” 

 

Keith sighed and fitted his com, and turned it on. “Kogane here.”

 

“Nice of you to join us.” Pidge said dryly. The coms were so clear it sounded like she was in the cockpit with them. “Pidge here.” 

 

“Awh, I had a whole intro for you too.” Lance pouted. “And I thought your call-name was Gremlin.” 

 

Keith pulled up the controls, and hovered a few meters off the ground. 

 

“Lira?”

 

“Present.” 

 

“Triste?” 

 

“Ready when you are, daddy.” 

 

Keith looked over at Lance, who had slapped a hand over his eyes. “God damn it, Keith! This is your fault!” 

 

“How is this my fault!” 

 

“You made me the leader!” 

 

“Are they always like this?” Lira cut across. 

 

“Yes!” Pidge groaned. “Oh, my God, it wasn’t a proper day on the Castle of Lions if they weren’t blaming each other for something. Though it was mostly Lance blaming Keith, and Keith getting all huffy. And then they would yell at eachother. And then Dad would give them a talking to. And then they’d go and be all gay about it.”

 

“Pidge!” 

 

“What? It’s true.” 

 

Keith was pretty sure Pidge was trying to kill him. 

 

“Can we just go?” Lance begged. 

 

Keith had never been happier to take off. 

 

~*~

 

It takes all of half a varga for Lance’s plan to go from “working perfectly” to “completely Voltron-ed”, as Shiro’s favorite euphemism went. They got in okay. And then things started to slowly decline. 

 

Of course, the others were, so far having perfectly successful missions. Keith supposes it’s mostly Lance’s dumb shit luck to end up on the most concluded mission, and only like ten percent his own dumb shit luck to end up on the most difficult mission, that attributes to them ending up on the one ship out of three that’s...well…

 

“It’s a what?” Lance hisses into his com. 

 

“It’s a mirror.” Pidge repeated, sounding exasperated. “The Roturan XClass-334’s were built as two models - the L and R. They were mirror images of each other. So any left turns are rights, and - “ 

 

“- and oh my God.” Lance finished. “And rights are left.” 

 

“Which would explain why we’re in the armoury, when our perfectly timed plan needs us outside the engine room.” Keith said flatly. 

 

“Quiznack.” Triste muttered. 

 

“How the hell did this happen?” Lira moaned. 

 

“I had no idea.” Lance breathed. “Why the hell would they - “

 

“For exactly situations like this.” Pidge explained. “The Roturan X-Class ships were built for Galra war lords. The manufacturer never disclosed the mirror floor plans, so if they were being boarded, there’s a 50-50 chance the attackers have the wrong floor plan.” 

 

Lance groaned quietly. 

 

“What do we do, Stardust?” Triste asked. 

 

Lance looked up at the ceiling, then at Keith. If they asked the other teams to wait, it increased the chances of them getting caught. But if they told the other teams to go ahead, the ship they were on would be thrown into high alert and Keith and Lance were as good as dead. 

 

Keith nodded once. 

 

“Go ahead.” Lance said. “You guys are in sync still. We’ll catch up.” 

 

“Lance.” Pidge said quietly. 

 

“We’ll figure it out. Plan B, you know?” Lance reassured. “Go.” 

 

“Stardust, are you - “ 

 

“Guys, you’re wasting time. Go.” 

 

“Keith - “

 

“Go!” 

 

The arguments stopped, and Lance turned off the mic on his com, and Keith mirrored him. They turned back the way they came, and slipped down the hall. Keith grabbed Lance’s wrist and yanked him into a supply closet. The door snapped shut behind them. 

 

“Plan B?” Keith asked. 

 

“Working on it.” Lance breathed. 

 

In the dark, the blue markings on Lance’s suit glowed faintly, and his markings almost sparkled. They were so close that Keith could feel his breath on his face. Keith hates himself. 

 

“Lance, the longer we stay here - “ 

 

“I know!” 

 

“The others are going to be in position any second.” 

 

“And then the alarms will go off, and if we’re caught, we’ll be a pair of very handsome corpses, I know, Keith. God, you always do this.” 

 

“Do what?” 

 

“Stress me out!” 

 

Keith ground his teeth. “Hate to break it to you, Team Leader, but this is a very stressful situation!” 

 

In Keith’s ear, Pidge said quietly, “Hey, guys, heads up. We’re almost ready to go over here.” 

 

Lance’s face was still crumpled in irritation, and he turned his com mic back on. “Go ahead.” 

 

“...hey, guys. Just. Take care of eachother, alright?” 

 

Lance met Keith’s eyes again, and his expression softened. “Yeah. We always do.” 

 

Lance turned off the mic again. 

 

“What do we do?” Keith repeated, softer this time. 

 

Lance sighed. “There’s no way we make it to the engine room in time. But we could head back to the armory, and do as much damage as possible.” 

 

There’s several problems with this plan, but Keith opens the door and peered out. He felt Lance behind him, leaning over his shoulder. 

 

“Okay, let’s go.” 

 

Several things happened very quickly. 

 

Keith and Lance stepped out of the closet. 

 

An alarm blared. 

 

Aliens spilled out into the hallway, mostly looking confused and gaping at the former paladins. 

 

Lance pulled a gun and fired. 

 

All the pirates were armed, and battle ready, and started firing back. 

 

Keith and Lance stood back to back and rotated as they fought. Lance covering everything at a distance, Keith getting at anything that came in close. 

 

“Just like old times, huh?” Keith called over his shoulder. 

 

“Quiznack!” 

 

Lance dropped a charge pack and slammed a new one into his blaster. They turned again, and more pirates were rushing down the hall. They were never going to get out of this. 

 

“Keith, duck!” 

 

Keith barely registered moving, bending down to follow the order but when he straightened up...there was no Lance at his back. He turned and saw Lance being dragged away with a gun to his temple. 

 

“Keith, run!” Lance ordered. 

 

Keith rushed towards him. 

 

Something hit the back of his head, and the world blurred and swayed, then went black. 

 

~*~

 

“Keith.” 

 

Keith moaned and rolled over. His arms hurt. 

 

“Keith, get up. Nap time’s over.” 

 

Keith used to wonder about...waking up next to Lance. On the Castleship, in those too small beds. Fighting each other for space. Lance’s hands in his hair and drool on his shirt and the fruity smell of the food-goo based face masks he used religiously. 

 

Then in those dark moments when he had hope, when the long hours got to him and Lance was just too quiet and they’re trapped on the Lions for days at a time, he plays out the scenes on those hard sleeping surfaces. 

 

Sometimes he wondered about softer beds with better scenery, or the bed in the apartment he kept on Daizabal. The surroundings change. The moments are always the same. 

 

Because as he wakes up, and maybe it’s not that pretty and maybe the bed is too small and maybe they’re both kind of gross. But then Lance sees him and smiles. And it’s all he really needs. 

 

“Keith. Come on, man. Wake up.” 

 

Keith drags his eyes open, and Lance is not smiling. 

 

Keith groaned and sat up, wobbling a little bit. He realized his arms hurt because they were pinned behind his back with handcuffs. The back of his head throbbed in pain, and he winced. 

 

“How long was I out?” 

 

“About a varga.” Lance shifted to adjust his arms. “You’re such an idiot.” 

 

“I’m an idiot?” Keith’s jaw dropped. “You’re the one who got caught.” 

 

“I cleared a path for you! You could have run! I told you to run!” 

 

Then, it fell into place. “This was Plan B, wasn’t it?” 

 

Lance looked away. 

 

Keith reached out to kick at his leg. “I can’t believe you!” 

 

“Plan B mostly involved you coming and rescuing me after I was caught, cause you’re a ninja master and supposed to be good at sneaking around.” 

 

“Why did you have to get caught in this scenario?” 

 

Lance growled and looked away. “Maybe I had to one-up you on being a self-sacrificing idiot.” 

 

Keith sighed and tipped his head back. They sat in silence for a moment.

 

“Well, good news is, they’ve made one really big mistake.” Lance said. 

 

Keith looked over at him. 

 

“They’ve locked us up together.” 

 

“Plan C?” Keith asked hopefully. 

 

Lance snorted and shook his head. “No. You’re not going to like Plan C.” 

 

“What’s Plan C?” 

 

“Eh, might be better if you don’t know.” 

 

“Lance, I swear to...just tell me.” 

 

Lance told him. He did not like Plan C. 

 

~*~

 

Twelve vargas later, Keith was standing next to Lance and getting stared down by his very unimpressed older brother. They had passed the time with three separate escape attempts. 

 

“What in hell’s name possessed you two to try to take down an Iberian flagship by yourselves?” 

 

Keith looked over at Lance who was fighting back a smirk. 

 

“We were feeling restless?” Keith tried, watching several Garrison soldiers lead handcuffed pirates to the Atlas’ brigg behind Shiro. 

 

“Are you kidding?” 

 

“Turns out, Keith is like, incapable of relaxing.” Lance smiled. “Vacation just wasn’t doing it for him. So we had to raise the stakes.” 

 

Lance’s Plan C was simple. Pidge and Triste had cut the power for their respective ships, rendering them dead in the water. While the crew escaped to the ship Lance and Keith were on, Pidge and Triste reconnected the power and moved the ships to the rendezvous point. Meanwhile, Hunk, sitting in Rachel’s apartment and waiting anxiously for news, found out that Keith and Lance had been taken, and immediately called Rachel. Who decided the best course of action was to call Shiro. No one would say anything about the Atlas being in Rath Veris’s orbit if the purpose was to retrieve his wayward brother. 

 

Rachel got two of three warships. The Iberians were gone. And no one had any idea that Pidge was involved, or that Hunk was nearby. Beautiful, really. Except for this moment. 

 

“You’re both grounded.” 

 

“You can’t ground us!” Keith protested. 

 

“Well, apparently it’s the only way I can keep you out of trouble until my wedding!” Shiro shouted. He was officially at the end of his rope. Wedding stress, Keith thought smugly. “I thought you both outgrew this! I swear, I can’t leave you in a room together without something exploding!”

 

“Come on Shiro, we’ll be good!” Lance begged. “Man, please, my poor mother will be worried sick.”

 

“Don’t get me started on you.” Shiro glared, and Lance gulped. “You go missing for six months, and want to play the mother card? We’ve all been worried. But oh no, apparently all it takes is Keith to show up - “

 

“To be fair - “

 

“Nope, don’t want to hear it. Rachel is having your things and Cosmo collected and sent here, and we leave for Earth in two vargas.”

 

“Shiro - “ Keith tried. 

 

Shiro turned and walked away from him. Keith looked over at Lance, who was wearing his biggest shit-eating grin. 

 

“Man, I really missed this.” Lance said happily. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. So. I'm sorry. I haven't updating in weeks. I've been working a lot, and sick, and I could get into it but it doesn't matter. Point is, I've had writer's block. And I've been busy. But I finally had some free time and banged this out, so enjoy. 
> 
> Also, I know it's been a lot of build up for not so much mission but like...are we really reading this for the mission? No! We need goopy love crap. So, means to and end.


	14. Chapter 14

Keith doesn’t see much of Lance in the week that they’re grounded. It’s a difficult feat, seeing as the enormous warship actually was pretty small in terms of livable space. But Lance is busy with helping with wedding preparations, and Keith is trying to catch up on paperwork that Rey’un had saved for him. He didn’t remember being such a bureaucrat before. 

 

When he does see him, it’s always in passing. It’s Lance following Curtis down the hall with arms filled with white silk. It’s Lance hastily saying hi and running from the room to rush to a tasting with Curtis. And they’re always talking. Lance has always been a chatter box, and Curtis likes his opinion heard, and between the two of them there’s hardly any silences. 

 

“I’m just happy someone’s helping him.” Shiro sighed as the two left the room, jabbering away. 

 

“Shouldn’t you be helping him?” Keith pointed out. 

 

“Keith, I tried. I honestly tried. But the truth is, I don’t care what color the flowers are and honestly all the cakes we tried tasted like cardboard. I wanted to do the sensible thing and elope, and save you and I all the trouble.” 

 

“What do I have to do with it?” 

 

“You have to give a speech, remember?” 

 

Shit. 

 

“And my bachelor party.”

 

Double shit. 

 

Shiro was smirking like he knew exactly what Keith was thinking, but Keith turned away. “Right. I’m on it.” 

 

“Uh-huh.”

 

“I still don’t understand how you’re getting away with doing literally nothing.” 

 

“Because I told Curtis that if he wanted all the fuss he would have to deal with it. My plan was to take him and ten guests to the Cliffs of Dover and marry him there. Instead, we have two hundred guests and some empty field in Louisiana of all places.” 

 

“The Cliffs of Dover?” 

 

“It’s very pretty there. Majestic. I don’t know.” 

 

“And what’s wrong with Louisiana?”

 

“It’s going to be so hot.” 

 

Well, he wasn’t wrong. They sat in silence for a minute. 

 

“Maybe he’s doing it because you won’t help.” Keith pointed out. 

 

“Well it’s too late now.” Shiro sighed. “I’m just going to have to work really hard on my vows. I bet him twenty bucks he’d cry before I did.” 

 

Keith rolled his eyes. “I have such a great role model.” 

 

Lance’s quarters are on the other side of the ship from the officer’s rooms. He’s taken a bunk with some of the fighter pilots, and even though Keith is bunking with Shiro and Curtis again and has no business in the fighter pilot’s bunks, he finds himself wandering over there a lot. People stare and whisper. Lance is always busy. And for the first time in years, Keith finds himself hating his work. 

 

Keith comes back one night to find Curtis sitting on the couch with a book, no Shiro. No Lance. He offers Keith a beer, and Keith declines. As soon as he sits on the couch, Cosmo jumps up to join them. Cosmo, in spite of being the size of a small pony, is convinced he’s a lap dog. 

 

They talk briefly about the wedding. Curtis openly laughs about Shiro’s pipe-dream of a small wedding. Shiro’s a dignitary. A hero. Cutting anyone from the two-hundred person guest list isn’t just impossible, it would be impolite. 

 

“What will you do?” Curtis asked. “After the wedding?”

 

Keith doesn’t know. 

 

“You sound like Lance.” Curtis says, and heads to bed. 

 

Keith doesn’t know what to make of that, so he stretches out on the couch and hugs his space wolf and tries not to think. Not about the wedding, which he’s been able to conveniently ignore up until now, or Lance being too busy for him, or how after being surrounded by his old friends for a week he suddenly realizes how lonely he is. How little he’s lived, how little he’s enjoyed himself. 

 

Maybe Lance had the right idea, jetting off across the universe to find himself again. Maybe Keith could learn something from that. But it’s not like he could...ask to go with him, or something stupid like that.

 

It would also mean admitting he could learn something from Lance, which could not happen under any circumstances. 

 

Shiro came back from the bridge and Keith pretended to be asleep. 

 

~*~

 

“Pidget!”

 

“Lancey! It’s been so long!” 

 

Their grins were too fixed, the excitement and massive hug completely overdone. Shiro narrowed his eyes at the pair, but didn’t comment. 

 

“Hunk! Old buddy old pal!” 

 

“Does he know?” Pidge whispered as she hugged Keith. 

 

“Definitely, but he can’t prove it.” 

 

“Why are all of you here?” Shiro asked coldly. “The wedding isn’t until Saturday.”

 

“First of all, I live here.” Pidge reminded. “Second, Lance is like, alive.” 

 

“I am.” Lance confirmed. 

 

“Third, it’s your goddamned bachelor party!”

 

Shiro yelped as Matt jumped him from behind and smashed a lai over his head. Shiro sputtered and tried to wrestle him off, his floating arm twisting back to grab at him. 

 

“I have work until - “ 

 

“Oh, my God, you’re almost as bad as Keith.” Lance compained. 

 

“Hey!” 

 

“Live a little! One last harrah! Before Curtis completely takes over your life.” 

 

“Keith was supposed to plan something, but he obviously didn’t - “

 

“Who said I didn’t plan anything?” Keith asked sharply. 

 

Shiro looked at him, flabbergasted. “You forgot until I said something two days ago.” 

 

“And when I remembered I made some calls.” Keith shook his head. “The lack of faith…”

 

“You’re not getting out of this one, Shiro.” Lance grinned. “Come on, let’s go. I promised Curtis you’d be back in twenty-four hours.” 

 

“I need - “

 

“Already have your clothes.” Hunk said cheerfully, lifting a small duffle. 

 

“Come on, let’s go!” Pidge cheered. “Blindfold him!” 

 

“Absolutely not.” Shiro said flatly. 

 

~*~

 

“Okay.” Shiro admitted. “This is actually kind of great.” 

 

Keith had finally found a use for the paychecks he cashed and then ignored. He had found an entire villa in downtown New Orleans to rent for the week. It only made sense to have Shiro’s bachelor party there, and to have everyone stay together until the wedding. 

 

Though there might have been something he didn’t consider. 

 

“Welcome to NoLa!” Matt shrieked. 

 

“Where did he…” Hunk paused and blinked at him. “...how does he already have a drink?” 

 

“Oh, they’re selling them on the street corners.” Pidge said, walking by with her own oversized plastic...container. They had surpassed any size that could be referred to as a “drink”. 

 

Shiro looked helplessly at Keith who shrugged. “Happy bachelor party?” 

 

“Dibs on the biggest room.” 

 

“Later, guys.” 

 

Keith turned around. Lance was halfway out the door with his guitar case in hand. “Where are you going?” 

 

“To try my luck in the most musical city in the world.” 

 

“Isn’t that - “ 

 

“I’ll catch up to you later.” Lance reassured. “Bye.” 

 

Keith stared after him, flabbergasted. 

 

“Huh.” Matt said idly, taking a dramatic slurp of his drink. “So that’s what freedom looks like.” 

 

Keith ended up with the smallest room, but he didn’t care. He tossed his bag on the floor and sat on the bed. He listened to the sounds of Hunk and Shiro laughing loudly downstairs in the living room, and Pidge’s shriek of joy when she found her en suite bathroom. Matt shouted for someone to come and look at the view. 

 

Keith’s room shared a bathroom with Lance, and all the doors were open so he could see Lance’s half unpacked bag on his bed, and his toiletry bag lazily tossed onto the counter next to the sink. 

 

“Keith.” Shiro sighed, quickly crossing the room. He picked up the garment bag containing his tux from where it was crumpled on the floor and gave it a light shake. “You do not want to have to get this dry cleaned three days before the most important day of my life.” 

 

“I thought you don’t care about your wedding.” Keith reminded. 

 

“I don’t, but Curtis does, and Lance does, and they’ll both murder you if you’re wrinkly.” 

 

Keith huffed out a sigh. Shiro hung the garment bag in the 

 

“What’s your plan for the day? Hunk and Matt want to go on a binget tour, and honestly that’s not the worst idea before we start drinking.”

 

“What about Pidge?” 

 

“Honestly, I don’t know what her bathroom situation is at home, but I don’t think she’s getting out of there anytime soon.” 

 

Keith snorted. “Would not have expected that.” 

 

“Everyone grows in their own ways. Anyway, want to join us?”  

 

Keith thought about it for a minute. “Nah, I’ve gotta finish my speech. I’ll catch up with you at the first bar.” 

 

“Sure.” Shiro shrugged, turning to leave. Then he paused. “First bar?” 

 

“I’d eat a lot of bignets if I were you.” 

 

“Takashi Shirogane.” Shiro muttered. “Survives imprisonment, comes back to life, ends the war, killed by his friends at his own bachelor party. His fiance is comforted by the fact that no strippers were involved.” 

 

“I made no such promises.” 

 

“Please, Keith, we both know the only stripper you’d ever hire is Lance, and you wouldn’t share.” 

 

Keith basically choked on his tongue. When he looked back up, Shiro was gone and his laugh echoed down the hallway. 

 

God, the only thing about being a teenager was at least Shiro didn’t tease him about this crap. Apparently all bets were off when he pretended to be a well adjusted adult. 

 

Keith waited until he heard Hunk, Matt and Shiro leave before grabbing his data pad from his bag and heading downstairs. He shouted goodbye to Pidge as he went, but didn’t get a response. 

 

In the entrance hall, he paused and checked his hair in the mirror. Then stopped. 

 

“Pathetic.” Keith grumbled, and stepped out into the sweltering heat.

 

~*~

 

It takes Keith an hour, but he finally stumbles into the right corner of the right park square. He enjoys his trip through the city. It’s off-season, and the heat is keeping most of the tourists away. Keith wonders if Curtis chose Louisiana for the wedding in the hopes that the heat would keep the guest count down. He is not excited about having to be in a tux all day for the wedding.

 

He hears Lance before he sees him. There’s a loose circle of an audience around him, which is good to see in a place where it’s so commonplace. But it probably also has something to do with how charming Lance is.  

 

“Now I'm still a blowjob queen (far more selectively)

I don't make love now to make people love me

But I don't mind sharing my gift with the planet

We're all gonna die and a blowjob's fantastic”

Lance had noticed Keith approaching, and shot him a grin. Keith smiled back, watching him strum the simple chords with as much gusto as possible. 

 

“When I was 25 I was a rock star

But it didn't pay too well I had to strip on the side

Of the road to get ready for shows and the cars driving by

Baby they'd never know

What a bargain they'd gotten

And if I'm forgotten

I'm perfectly happy with all that has happened

And I still get laughed at but it doesn't bother me

I'm just so glad to hear laughter around me”

 

Keith hung at the back of the audience, listening to the goofy lyrics. He waited for the song to end, clapped with everyone else, and moved forward while the audience dispersed. 

 

“You sound good.” Keith smiled. 

 

“Thanks.” Lance said brightly. “Just couldn’t sit around the house all day, waiting to go out. I figured I’d try to make some beer money. What are you doing out here?” 

 

Keith held up his data pad. “Best man speech.” 

 

“Ugh.” 

 

“Can I join?” 

 

“Yeah. No killing my vibe, though.” 

 

Keith snorted and sat on the bench next to him. “You have to have a vibe to kill.” 

 

“Rude. I have vibe. I have so much vibe.” 

 

Keith shook his head and turned on the data pad. “Right. Sure, Lance.” 

 

Lance started strumming again, this time not singing. Maybe to let Keith focus. Maybe so he could talk. It took Keith a minute, but soon enough he picked up on the notes. David Bowie. 

 

“What are you going to say?” Lance asked. 

 

“I don’t know.” Keith mumbled, staring at the long paragraphs of nothing he had compiled. “I’m happy for you, I’m glad you found Curtis, may you have many beautiful beige babies. What do people normally say at these things?” 

 

“I don’t know.” Lance considered. “How the happy couple proved to a curmudgeon like you that true love exists.” 

 

“I’m not a curmudgeon.” Keith mumbled. 

 

“Hmm, well, you’re definitely too much of a curmudgeon to say something like that.” Lance shrugged. “I don’t know, man. Just be honest. Wing it, if you have to. Tell him how much he means to you, and you’re glad he’s happy. Well, him and one hundred and ninety-eight other people.”

 

Keith shook his head. 

 

Keith tried to work on his speech, but mostly just stared at it. Lance played songs. Around three o’clock, they stood and started to pack up. 

 

“Hey Keith?” 

 

Keith looked over to where Lance was fiddling with the clasp on his guitar case. “What?” 

 

“What are you going to do? After the wedding?” 

 

Keith shrugged. “I don’t know. Go back to work, I guess.” 

 

“Sounds boring.” 

 

“It’s not.” Keith lied. “I like it. Helping people.” 

 

Lance made noncommittal noise. 

 

“Why? What will you do?” 

 

“I don’t know.” Lance frowned. “But...I don’t think I’m ready to go home yet.” 

 

“Still looking for something beautiful?” Keith asked. 

 

Lance doesn’t answer. 

 

Maybe Keith should have...made the offer again. Told Lance he could be his right hand again. All he had to do was say the word. But he knew Lance would never accept. And maybe there was a point to that. 

 

“Come on, let’s go.” Keith says instead. “We have to meet the others.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, an update. I'm sorry. I'm the worst. But this is the first day I've felt well rested in about two weeks so there's that. Sorry it's a filler chapter. But this will wrap up soon, and I'm working on a nice big long one for the Duality Project series, which I can't seem to let go of.
> 
> Lyrics from "Do You Swear to Tell the Truth, the Whole Truth, So Help Your Black Ass" by Amanda Palmer, which is actually played on a ukelale and a brilliant song that everyone should listen to.


	15. Chapter 15

Keith has surpassed drunk. He is officially shitfaced.

 

Not that Shiro is doing much better, or Hunk for that matter. But somehow Matt is still unfairly upright.

 

“No, no, no!” Lance yelled over the blues guitarist who was playing on the stage. “Shiro! You can’t just not go on a honeymoon! You have to jump his bones!”

 

Shiro, who was already pretty red from the alcohol, turned purple and hid his face in his hands.

 

“Jump his bones?” Pidge shrieked with laughter. “Who says that?”

 

“He says he doesn’t care if we go or not.” Shiro muttered.

 

“Shiro.” Lance pleaded. “He cares. I guarantee he cares. And seeing as he did all the work for the wedding, this is something that he’s expecting you to put together.”

 

“Yeah, man, don’t you need a vacation?” Hunk asked. “Your stress lines have stress lines.”

 

“Those are because of Keith.”

 

“Hey!”

 

“Shiro, you’ve complained for months about how the wedding is nothing like what you wanted.” Lance reminded. “But they can’t ruin your honeymoon. So, maybe that will be your chance to do what you want.”

 

Matt came back to the table with a tray of mezcal shots, and Keith actually groaned.

 

“Can I take a break?” Keith asked. “Or like...some water?”

 

“Me too.” Hunk groaned. “I think time has simultaneously sped up and slowed down.”

 

“Sorry. Already purchased.” Matt grinned. “Drink up, boys.”

 

Hunk obediently knocked back his shot and Keith just stared at his. Then suddenly it was being taken away from him. Lance winked at him before taking the shot before downing his own.

 

“How can you do that?” Keith demanded.

 

“Practice.” Lance smirked. “And nachos.”

 

“Nachos? There’s nachos?”

 

Lance laughed and patted him on the shoulder. “I’ll get you some nachos, buddy.”

 

The nachos were disgusting, but Keith felt a little better after eating some. They had been to three bars previously, but luckily this seemed to be the last one. Keith allowed himself to settle into the booth next to Shiro and ate his nachos.

 

“Thanks for this.”

 

Keith looked over at Shiro. “I barely did anything.”

 

“You got everyone together. That’s enough.” Shiro smiled. “You even got Lance.”

 

Keith looked out at the dance floor, where Lance was playfully spinning Pidge.

 

“What happened to you two?” Shiro asked. “How’d you get him to come back?”

 

Keith shrugged. “We talked.”

 

“You talked.” Shiro repeated. “Right. You didn’t...go on a date or talk about your feelings or something.”

 

Keith rolled his eyes. “No.”

 

“Really?”

 

“God, you all are obsessed.” Keith grumbled. “Did you know Pidge, Hunk and Matt were betting on us getting together?”

 

Shiro fiddled with a cocktail umbrella.

 

“Seriously?” Keith grumbled.

 

“Please Keith, like Lance isn’t as transparent as scultrite. Look, the only person who didn’t know how much he liked you back then was you.”

 

“And that has nothing to do with now.”

 

“Keith.” Shiro groaned. “He literally waited for you to come and find him. After months of refusing to see any of us. He waited for you.”

 

Lance spun Pidge out and yanked her back in, making her laugh hysterically.

 

“I think he’s finally ready for you, Keith.” Shiro said quietly. “All you have to do is tell him.”

 

“Can we go back to talking about your honeymoon?”

 

“No, we’re going to talk about how Pidge swears whatever you two were doing on Rath Veris was actually a date and you’re too embarrassed to tell me.”

 

Keith scowled. Pidge was being underhanded and dirty, and knew full well Keith couldn’t defend himself by admitting what actually happened on Rath Veris.

 

“I need another shot.” Keith mumbled, sliding out of the bench.

 

~*~

 

Keith had a couple more shots, and thankfully by the time he had gone to the bathroom, regretted most of his life choices, and returned his friends had decided it was time to call it a night. Mostly because Shiro was half-asleep.

 

Matt called a cab, and he and Keith wrestled the groom-to-be into the back. The rest of the group piled in, a mess of laps and pinned arms and Hunk comfortable in the front seat. It was a relief when the car pulled up in front of the villa and Lance popped the door open, resulting in paladins exploding out. Keith opened the front door and collapsed into a chair in the living room. He had to laugh at the sight of Matt half-carrying Shiro through the door.

 

“What time is it?” Pidge yawned as she fell onto the couch.

 

“Not late enough.” Hunk mumbled, eyeing his watch. “I’m going to make eggs.”

 

“Yes!” Lance cheered. “Garrett’s Famous Drunk Eggs! Come on, Pidge!”

 

Lance pulled Pidge off the couch, and they shuffled after Hunk to the kitchen. Keith tipped his head back and closed his eyes. How was he still so drunk?

 

“Hey. Mullet. Eyes up.”

 

Keith dragged his eyes open and looked up at Lance’s smile.

 

“You don’t want eggs.”

 

Keith shrugged.

 

Lance sighed. “Come on, let’s get you to bed.”

 

“You’ll miss the eggs.” Keith protested as Lance pulled him up and secured an arm around his waist.

 

“I’ll live.”

 

Lance half pulled Keith up the stairs and towards their rooms, snickering as Keith tripped and gripped his shoulder tighter.

 

“Careful buddy.” Lance snickered. “Man, you’re such a lightweight.”

 

“I’m not a lightweight.” Keith protested. “You just have a freakishly high tolerance.”

 

“Yeah, cause I actually drink sometimes. Unlike you. Working all the time.”

 

They made it to Keith’s room. Keith tried to pull away, but Lance moved his grip into a tight hug and pushed his face into Keith’s shoulder.

 

“I know everyone’s worried about me and whatever.” Lance said quietly. “But I’m worried about you. You just work all the time.”

 

“I don’t have anything.” Keith mumbled, sitting on the bed and immediately deciding that laying down was much better.

 

Lance looked sad and a little lost as he dropped onto the end of the bed. “Why are we like this?”

 

“Maybe because we’re apart.”

 

“You really think that?”

 

“Sometimes.”

 

Lance sighed and lay down as well, scooting close to Keith. “I’m really drunk. Can we cuddle like last time?”

 

“You don’t want to cuddle with Hunk?”

 

“Nah. Definitely would rather cuddle you.”

 

“But why?”

 

Lance laughed and buried his face in Keith’s shoulder. “Why do you think, Mullet?”

 

Keith falls asleep, and he doesn’t know.

 

~*~

 

Keith woke up wrapped in Cuban boy, and it’s honestly…

 

Lance’s lips are in his hair and his hands lightly grip his waist and riding his t-shirt up. He smells like sweat and spilled beer and his hands are rougher than Keith thought they would be. Keith wonders if he could drink sunlight from his skin.

 

But that’s not why he’s awake. Shiro is standing over them, his hand resting on Keith’s upper arm.

 

“Shiro?” Keith mumbled, rubbing his eyes and sitting up. “What’s wrong?”

 

“I need your help with something.”

 

Lance let out a tiny moan and shifted next to him.

 

“Shiro, it’s four in the morning.” Keith whispered. “Can’t it wait?”

 

Shiro shook his head. “Meet me downstairs. Bring Lance.”

 

He left the room, and Keith sighed and looked down at Lance. He gently shook his shoulder. “Lance. Lance!”

 

“Hmmm…”

 

“Lance. Wake up.”

 

Lance rolled onto his back and stretched. He opened his eyes slowly, taking a minute to focus on Keith, then smiled. Keith’s heart just about stopped.

 

“Morning, babe.” Lance whispered.

 

“Morning.”

 

“What time is it?”

 

“Early.”

 

“Mmmm, why are we awake?”

 

“Shiro wants our help with something.”

 

“Okay.”

 

It’s insane, really, but it’s such a quiet, perfect moment. And Lance is warm and full of lazy smiles and Keith has to have misheard him cause he’s reasonably sure Lance called him babe. Which Keith would hate but it just seems right coming from Lance.

 

Keith wishes he could have more mornings like this. He wishes he could just...run another mission with Lance. Sit in a park and listen to him play guitar. Anything but going back to sitting behind a desk and managing the Blades and pretending he didn’t need more in his life. Pretending he wasn’t wandering around missing pieces of himself.

 

Suddenly Lance’s breath caught, and he rolled out of bed. “We should see what he wants.”

 

Downstairs, Shiro was rummaging in a cabinet for coffee mugs. Lance grabbed some painkillers off the counter and took one before tossing the bottle to Keith. Shiro poured all three of them coffee and they sat at the kitchen table.

 

“So, what’s going on?” Lance asked.

 

Shiro took a sip of his coffee. “I was thinking about what you said at the bar last night. About how the wedding is...nothing that I wanted. And it’s not what Curtis wanted.”

 

Keith choked on his coffee. “You can’t call off the wedding!”

 

Shiro looked horrified. “I’m not! Are you insane? No! I just want a quiet wedding and a quiet life with Curtis. But I just...I don’t know. Curtis kept talking about what the proper thing to do was and it all got away from me before I could take control of it. And now he’s put all of this work into it, and I’ve just...honestly I’ve been kind of horrible about the whole thing.”

 

“You have been.” Lance agreed. “We talk about it all the time.”

 

“Thanks, Lance.” Shiro scowled. “But I’m going to fix it. Lance, I need you to go and get Curtis, and bring him to the Cliffs of Dover. But don’t tell him where you’re going.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Well, if he agrees to it, we’ll be having a secret ceremony just for us, and then we can do the big wedding later. But I don’t want our marriage to start on a day that can’t be perfect.”

 

Keith nodded. “Okay. I’ll get the others up.”

 

“No. No time. We have to get to England and find an officiant. We might even be able to make the sunrise.”

 

“Awh, Shiro, you are a romantic.” Lance grinned. “Alright, I’m going to take Matt’s car, I guess, and meet you guys in England.”

 

“Thank you, Lance.” Shiro breathed.

 

Lance smiled. “Anytime. See you in a bit!”

 

~*~

 

Keith changed into fresh clothes and flew with Shiro directly to England, where they woke up a priest they had googled en route. The priest was as hungover as they were and understandably grumpy, but upon realizing who was waking him up and after hearing the story, he agreed to do the ceremony.

 

Keith is really fucking hungover, and he really just wants to go back to bed. Preferably with Lance. But...this is also a big deal. His brother is getting married.

 

“You alright?” Keith asked as they waited near the edge of the Cliffs.

 

Shiro took a deep breath of the sea air. “Never better.”

 

“You sure you don’t want anyone else here?” Keith asked. “I’m sure your parents could - “

 

“Keith.” Shiro smiled. “You’re my brother. And Lance is our friend. I don’t need anyone else here. Also, Matt can’t keep a secret to save his life so he’s definitely out.”

 

Keith snorted. He turned and saw Lance and Curtis walking up the incline towards them. “They’re here.”

 

Lance had blindfolded Cutis and was guiding him towards them. He was wearing jeans and a wrinkled green button down, which was about the same as Shiro’s faded t-shirt. As they approached, Keith could hear him nagging Lance.

 

“Seriously, Lance, where are we?”

 

“Just trust me.”

 

“Oh, my God, I’m going to die.”

 

“You’re so dramatic.”

 

Lance walked him up to them, and stopped him in front of Shiro.

 

“We’re stopping?”

 

“Yeah, we’re here.”

 

“Where?”

 

“Curtis?” Shiro asked softly.

 

Curtis tilted his head. “Tak? What...what are we doing here? Where is here? Did you ask Lance to abduct me?”

 

Shiro reached forward and took the blindfold off him. Curtis blinked in the morning light, and looked around.

 

“What...the Cliffs of Dover? I...Tak….”

 

“Do you remember when we came here?” Shiro asked quietly. “I was...having a bad day. I just wanted some quiet and you took me here. It rained and we stood under an umbrella for two hours. And I just remember looking at you and thinking...I love you.”

 

Curtis’ jaw dropped slightly. “I...we were only together for like...three weeks.”

 

“I know.” Shiro smiled and took his hands. “You’ve done so much to get our wedding planned and make it...everything it’s supposed to be. But I want to do something for us. I want…the quiet and simple wedding we both wanted. And then we can do the big ridiculous thing after.”

 

Curtis smiled slowly. “Okay.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Tak, this is literally the most romantic thing you’ve done for me. Even if Lance barging into my room with a foghorn at four-thirty in the morning was not a great start.”

 

“I did not tell him to do that.”

 

“Hey, I got him here, didn’t I?” Lance asked.

 

Curtis smiled and wove their fingers together, then tugged Shiro towards the priest. “Come on, that priest looks really irritated.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am the worst updater. Sorry. 
> 
> We're almost there! Probably like two more chapters. :) 
> 
> Thanks for all the comments! It seriously makes me so happy.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I want to stop being afraid.

To absolutely no-one’s surprise, Lance cried during the ceremony. He’d probably cry at the next one too. He believed in love more than just about anyone that Keith knew. 

 

“Sap.” Keith smiled. 

 

“Shut up.” Lance mumbled back, furiously rubbing his eyes. “It’s beautiful, okay?” 

 

Keith wrapped an arm around him, muttering a word of thanks to the priest as he walked past them. Shiro and Curtis remained on the cliff’s edge, facing the English Channel and clinging to their moment as long as they could. Lance pulled a communicator from his pocket and snapped a quick photo. 

 

“Let’s give them a minute.” Keith suggested. “Find breakfast somewhere.” 

 

“You’re buying.” Lance yawned. “I was not designed to be awake this early.” 

 

Keith shook his head and they turned and walked back down towards the cars. Lance left the keys for the one he had driven in the sun-visor for Curtis and Shiro, then got into Keith’s rental. He yawned again and curled up in the passenger seat. 

 

Keith found a cafe that was opening and parked around the corner, and Lance texted Shiro the address.They settled into a table and Keith stared at the menu without registering anything it actually said. 

 

“Keith?” 

 

Keith looked up and realized that a waitress had arrived at the edge of their table. “Uhm...hi.” 

 

“Drink?” she asked helpfully. 

 

“A coffee, please.” 

 

She walked away and Keith found himself drawn to Lance, again. Infallibly. The morning sun made the markings on his face glimmer, and his fingers pushed through his hair. He looked tired and messy and Keith wanted…

 

To turn back time. To fix everything. To never have left in the first place, to have Lance as Black Paladin, to bring Allura back, to have quiet mornings tangled up in sleepy cuddly Lance. So many things he couldn’t change.

 

But did he really want to? All those horrible things that had happened brought him right here. To this moment, sitting with Lance in a tiny dark cafe after Shiro’s wedding, too hungover to read his menu. He had dinner plans with his mom next week. He had just saved a planet from pirates with his best friend after a trip across the universe that made him realize he may not be completely over him. 

 

Without all the bad things...maybe Hunk was right. Maybe he and Lance needed the time to grow up and figure themselves out. 

 

“Hey, man. What’s wrong?” 

 

Keith started. “What?” 

 

“You’re staring at me.”

 

“No I’m not.” 

 

“Well I’m glad you’re finally appreciating my beauty, but can you be a little less creepy about it?” 

 

Keith rolled his eyes and looked back at his menu. He scanned the options and tried to decide if he wanted to try Brittan’s attempt at huevos rancheros, or play it safe and get the soft boiled egg with toast. 

 

“Keith?” 

 

“Hm?” 

 

“You can stare if you want.” 

 

“Shut up, Lance.” 

 

Lance smiled at his own menu, and thanked the waitress when she came back with their coffees. Shiro and Curtis walked in holding hands, Shiro laughing at something Curtis was whispering in his ear. Keith couldn’t remember the last time he had seen his brother look so happy. Lance whipped out his communicator to take more photos. 

 

Curtis bullied Keith out of his seat and onto Lance’s side of the table so he could sit with Shiro. The newly weds sat and ordered coffees and somehow managed to decide on breakfasts in two seconds, and Keith resigned himself to the soft boiled egg and maybe stealing some of Lance’s waffle. 

 

“What’s your guys’ plan for today?” Curtis asked. 

 

“Going home and going straight to bed.” Keith yawned. 

 

“Dunno yet.” Lance shrugged. “I was thinking about going to the World War Three memorials. Play guitar for the grievers.” 

 

“Have you been to the Invasion Memorial yet?” 

 

“No. That’s in Florida, right?” 

 

Lance and Curtis continued to chat about various memorial sights, and Keith let his head hang over his mug of coffee. Shiro had the slightest smile on his face as he looked at his wedding ring, and Keith figured it would be cute if he weren’t so damn tired. 

 

Next to him, Lance let his leg fall against Keith's and left it there. Keith was too tired to say anything, and honestly he didn't want to anyway. 

 

~*~

 

Keith finally got to go to bed, only conceding to letting Lance fly them home when he realized he couldn’t keep his eyes open. He didn’t even make it back up to his bed, just collapsing on the couch after stumbling through the door of the villa. 

 

When he woke up a few hours later, Pidge was sitting on his legs. She was clacking away at a laptop, and when he shifted his legs she glared at him like a cat disturbed during nap time.  

 

“I’m working.” she growled.

 

“Aren’t we all supposed to be on vacation?” Keith mumbled. 

 

“What the hell do you know about vacation?” 

 

Keith kicked her off onto the floor and sat up. Hunk was moving around the kitchen, humming while he worked. Keith didn’t know what lunch was, but it smelled delicious. He stood and stretched his arms, making Pidge wince at the sound of his spine cracking. 

 

“Lance up yet?” he asked. 

 

“He got up and left an hour ago. You know, most people find clingy-ness annoying in a partner.”

 

“I’m not - he’s not - shut up, Pidge.” 

 

She rolled her eyes. “You know, you both would be so much happier if you were just honest for a change.” 

 

“I’m not clingy.” he told her, and himself. 

 

“Mhmm.” 

 

“Lunch is ready.” Hunk announced. “Garret’s Famous Hangover Ramen.” 

 

Keith walked over to the breakfast bar to find that Hunk had made a sort of do-it-yourself ramen bar. Several bowls of noodles, then a large selection of meats, mushrooms, eggs, vegetables, and finished off with the boiling pot of broth on the stove. 

 

“Looks great, Hunk.” Keith praised. 

 

“Thanks, buddy.” Hunk smiled, then glanced nervously at the door. “I hope Lance doesn’t miss lunch.” 

 

“I can go grab him if you want.” Keith volunteered. 

 

“How do you know where he is?” Pidge asked, heaping mushrooms into her bowl. 

 

“He told me. Don’t hog the mushrooms.” 

 

“You’re not my space dad.”

 

“He’s right.” Curtis yawned, walking into the kitchen. “You’ll overdose on fungus.” 

 

“Hey, when you and Shiro get married, do we have to pretend to do what you say too? Will you be like...our space step-dad?” 

 

Curtis blinked at her, then sighed. “Now I see why Keith is the favorite.” 

 

“Hey, I am definitely the favorite.” 

 

“Favorite of what?” Shiro asked. “Oh, hey, lunch. Where’d the mushrooms go?” 

 

The other three men looked pointedly at Pidge, who grumbled and put some of her mushrooms back. Shiro ruffled her short hair and grabbed his own bowl. Pidge made a face at Curtis behind Shiro’s back, who rolled his eyes.

 

Keith assembled his bowl with a bit of everything, and was just adding broth when Lance blew in like a force of nature. 

 

“Hey everyone! Oh, great, I’m starving. There anything left?” 

 

“Everything but mushrooms.” Hunk said, offering a bowl. 

 

“Good, I hate them anyway.” 

 

“How was the memorial park?” Curtis asked. 

 

“Very nice.” Lance nodded. “They did a good job with it. I played David Bowie. Everyone loves Bowie, but Space Oddity seemed fitting, you know?”

 

“Don’t think I’ve heard that one.” Pidge said. 

 

Lance gasped and dropped the tongs he was using to pile pork medallions into his bowl. “Seriously?” 

 

“Not all of us listen to ancient music like you, loser.” 

 

“David Bowie was arguably one of the most influential and greatest pop-stars of all time! He - “ 

 

“Died before any of our parents were born.” 

 

“And is immortal in the spirit of his music.” Lance dragged her out of her chair and started hauling her around the room in a waltz. “This is Major Tom to Ground Control, I’m stepping through the door. And I’m floating in the most peculiar way, and the stars look very different today.” 

 

“Why am I marrying into this?” Curtis asked, watching the chaotic dance. 

 

Lance finally released Pidge and met Keith’s eyes, and grinned slightly. Keith’s heart stopped painfully, and only started when he looked at his ramen again. 

 

What was Lance going to do next? He’s obviously still restless. He can barely stay in the house for a few hours at a time. On Rath Veris, he had purpose. He seemed alive again. But now he just...can’t seem to stay still. 

 

Keith can’t lose him again, but he’s not sure how to ask him to stay, either. 

 

He has time. The wedding isn’t until tomorrow. And then it will be a few more days before everyone moves on. 

 

~*~

 

“Well,” Shiro grimaced as he picked a stray petal out of Keith’s hair, “at least we know why he was so insistent about the bouquets.” 

 

The wedding was perfect and beautiful and touching. Everything went smoothly. Even Shiro managed to not look annoyed. Pictures were taken, cake was cut, and the last thing before everyone could relax and drink and dance was the bouquet throwing. 

 

Keith always thought it was odd that Curtis wanted to do that specific tradition so bad. He had mentioned his disdain for it several times. Keith had assumed it was maybe Shiro’s mother who wanted them to follow traditions, or perhaps because this was their Official Wedding Curtis felt he had to do things properly. 

 

He was wrong. 

 

Keith hadn’t been paying attention to the bouquet tossing, so he didn’t really know what happened. But apparently, when he had turned to tell Acxa something, Shiro had gracefully thrown his bouquet over his head and into the crowd. Meanwhile, Curtis had turned around and thrown his bouquet directly at Keith, nailing him in the back of the head. It hadn’t hurt - the flowers weren’t heavy, but Curtis had put a lot of force into the throw. It was more shocking than anything else. 

 

“I just wanted to make sure you were next.” Curtis had said innocently. 

 

Asshole. 

 

“You married him.” Keith grumbled back at Shiro. 

 

“He’s just trying to give you some luck, Keith.” 

 

“Oh, my God.” 

 

“Hey.” Keith looked up to see Lance standing over them. “You alright?” 

 

Keith immediately felt self-conscious. His hair was definitely a mess. 

 

“Yeah. Not like it hurt or anything.” 

 

“Can I buy you a drink?” 

 

“It’s an open bar, Lance.” 

 

“I don’t have a job, Keith. I’m a professional vagabond-slash-secret agent. I can only buy you a drink at an open bar.”

 

Shiro rose an eyebrow. “Secret agent for who, exactly?” 

 

“No one.” Lance flashed him a grin, then grabbed Keith’s wrist. “Come on, let’s get a drink.” 

 

Keith allowed himself to be pulled along. While Lance ordered them drinks, Keith hastily retied his hair and hoped he had fixed it. They moved off to a dimly lit bistro table tucked away next to the bar. A little more private, and no one moving around them paid any attention. 

 

“Here.” Lance said, thrusting a cocktail at him. “Good job with your speech, by the way.” 

 

“Oh, uh, thanks.” Keith sipped the drink. It tasted like raspberries and chocolate. “What are you going to do next?” 

 

Lance’s smile faded a little bit. “Why do you keep asking me that?” 

 

“I just…” Keith sighed. “I…” 

 

“What is it?” Lance asked.

 

Keith sighed and shook his head. “I just...I can’t figure out what you want.” 

 

Lance stared at him for a minute, then looked away. “I want a lot of things.” 

 

“Are you just going to keep wandering around the universe? Running missions and getting yourself killed?” 

 

“Well what about you?” Lance asked bitterly. “Anyone can see you’re not happy with the Blades.”

 

“I’m fine.” 

 

“No, you’re not. God, Keith, you dropped everything to come looking for me without question.” 

 

“You wanted me to come looking.”

 

“That’s besides the point.” 

 

Keith huffed and looked away, sipping his drink. 

 

“Look, can we just...I want to stop being afraid.” Lance said. “Both of us. Can we try that?” 

 

“What are you talking about?” 

 

“I’m talking about us.” 

 

“And what exactly are we so afraid of?” 

 

“No, I mean...us. You and me. Can you...look at me?” 

 

Keith looked up and found Lance searching his face. 

 

“You keep asking me what I’m going to do but...honestly I don’t know what I’m doing. I just know that I want to go with you. Not to the Blades or anything like that I just...I think we need to be together. Which brings me to the next thing.” 

 

Keith’s throat felt like it was going to close up. “Lance - “ 

 

“Nope. No fear.” Lance downed the rest of his drink, and coughed to clear his throat. “Okay. Okay. So. I messed up. I think you know this. You have to know. I kind of...when we were kids it didn’t work out, and it shouldn’t have, really cause we were both idiots and I think now maybe we can...I mean, if you want to, I have no idea what you want and I never have. You’re just so - “

 

Keith was a man of action. So while Lance was busy rambling, Keith found that horrible hole in his chest was...not gone. But it didn’t ache. And Lance was practically gold in the light from the candle on the table. 

 

So Keith stood to lean over the table, and his sudden movement finally shut Lance up, and cupped his face. Keith firmly pressed their lips together and tried to communicate years of yearning and need into the kiss. Lance whimpered and his hands fluttered uselessly over the table until Keith finally released him. 

 

“Like that?” Keith whispered. 

 

Lance nodded, looking a little stunned. “Something like that.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! 
> 
> Hmm I kinda decided to skip the whole big speech thing for this fic. It's a little overdone. And the majority of the story was the whole big speech thing. 
> 
> But, there will be one more chapter. It'll be more of a epilogue, really. But I think it'll be good. 
> 
> And then I'll finish up October. And then I'll probably be saying goodbye to Klance. :/ 
> 
> As always, I love comments, and if anyone wants to recommend any good fics I would appreciate it!


	17. Epilogue

**Nine Months Later**

 

Keith woke up and immediately groaned, rolling over and trying to stretch out. His entire body felt tight, like he was all ropes that were over-stretched between his joints. He stared up at the bulkhead above the bed, trying to figure out when it all started to hurt so much. 

 

Next to him, a pair of long legs and arms reached out and pulled him back. A mouth pressed into the crook of his neck, warm breath rushing over his collar bone. 

 

“Don’t go anywhere.” Lance mumbled into his skin. 

 

Keith has had two hundred and seventy-six mornings like this one. Two hundred and seventy-six mornings where he gets to wake up to Lance. 

 

They wake up in different places, because they’re often on the move. Different planets, different ships. Sometimes because they’re running a mission, sometimes sightseeing and visiting friends, sometimes just for Lance to play guitar. Whatever the reason, they’re putting the universe back together bit by bit. They wake up on beaches, in forests, in desserts. Sometimes on proper beds, sometimes on couches. But always, always, Lance’s warmth is there.  

 

Lately, they wake up on Daizabaal more often than not. They use Keith’s apartment there as a home base, and typically stay there for as long as it takes for one of them to get restless. Lately though, they’ve been spending longer stretches of time in the apartment. Slowing down a little. 

 

For some reason, though, Keith likes waking up on their ship in transit. There’s something about the silence that makes him feel like they’re the only thing of importance in the universe. Which honestly doesn’t scare him as much as it should. 

 

“Not going anywhere.” Keith grumbled back. “Lemme stretch.” 

 

Lance loosened his arms just enough for Keith to arch his back and try to loosen up, then relaxed into his hold again. Lance hummed happily in his ear, pressing a lazy line of kisses into his neck. 

 

“What are you thinking about?” Lance asked. 

 

“My retirement. How long before that kicks in?” 

 

“Too long.” Lance nuzzled him again. “You could just get a desk job.” 

 

Keith pretended to consider it. “I could have one of those desk-top calendars. A special mug in the coffee room.” 

 

“I feel like you’d be an office-plant person.” 

 

“But I kill all my plants.” 

 

“A serial-office plant person then - ah! Cosmo! Get off! Jesus, it’s like he knows to go right for my crotch!” 

 

Keith laughed while Lance rolled around next to him, trying to avoid the giant blue paws that joined them on the bed. Soon Cosmo settled next to their legs with a huff, and Keith reached over to scratch his ears. Lance finally relaxed again, and put his lips back to Keith’s shoulder. He’s not trying to wind Keith up, or get anything out of him. They just both need the reassurance sometimes. The touches that say, “I’m here. I love you. I’m here.”

 

“Where are we?” Lance mumbled. 

 

Keith reached for the screen in the wall above the bedside table, and touched the surface to wake it up. He squinted to understand the readings. 

 

“About three vargas left on the flightpath. As long as we don’t have to stop again.” 

 

“Those people needed our help, Keith. We had to stop.” 

 

“We stopped because you wanted to pick up peppers for Hunk. We stayed because they needed our help.” 

 

“Yeah, and we got the peppers! So, win-win.” 

 

Keith rolled his eyes at the thought of the crate of peppers sitting in the hold. It was given to them out of gratitude for helping rid the planet of a council that ruled the inhabitants through a mix of religion and hypnotism. They could have been on New Altea a week ago, and the peppers were so hot Keith couldn’t walk into the hold without his eyes watering. 

 

“We didn’t have to stay an extra night.” 

 

“They wanted to celebrate, Keith. Hear a performance from the Guitar Man.” 

 

Keith rolled his eyes. About six months ago on a whim Lance had recorded himself playing a selection of David Bowie covers with his brother Luis. Somehow it became an overnight sensation - maybe because Paladin was still an official title that clung to Lance’s name, but he could back it up. Even though he had heard it a million times, Lance’s rendition of Heroes made Keith’s heart ache. 

 

Keith rolled in his arms and ran fingers through short brown strands. Lance closed his eyes and leaned into the touch, humming happily. Keith leaned forward and kissed him good morning, lingering just a little. 

 

“We should call Coran.” Lance mumbled, pulling back only enough to speak. “Let him know we’re almost there.” 

 

“In a moment.” Keith promised. “I just want to say good morning.” 

 

A slow smile filled Lance’s face, just like every other morning. And like every other morning, it’s perfect. “Good morning.” 

 

~*~

 

Keith smiled slightly as he watched Lance sitting with Hunk and Pidge, laughing easily and talking away. Allura’s statue looms over them, but she smiles benevolently on all of them. It’s a very welcome sight. Something had shifted since Lance’s meandering, maybe since Rath Veris. The guilt that Hunk and Pidge had been carrying is slowly dissipating as Lance appears whole again. 

 

“Can’t you two just get married already?” Pidge teases. 

 

Lance scoffs. “Please, Keith’s got a lot of work to do if he wants to put a ring on this.” 

 

Even as he says it, he turns and shoots Keith a wink. Marriage is in the cards. Not now, but a few years down the road. In some ways, it feels as if they’ve been together forever. They have, in one form or another. And so Pidge’s question isn’t completely unreasonable. On the other hand, they’re both still trying to put themselves together again. They both know they have to wait until they can stand still. 

 

Coran sits next to him and hands him a glass. Grief has made Coran quiet, in some ways. “How have you been, my boy?” he asks. 

 

Keith sipped his drink before answering. “Good.”

 

“Relieved to be out of the spotlight?” 

 

Keith snorted. “Definitely.” 

 

About two months after Shiro’s wedding, Keith officially stepped down from the Blade. He wanted to help people, but being in charge meant he spent most of his time doing paperwork and on the phone with dignitaries. Stepping down meant he could take missions as needed, actually make a difference. It also meant that he could bring Lance along. 

 

“What will you two do next?” 

 

“I don’t know.” Keith admitted. “But I’m sure it won’t be boring.” 

 

They do have enough on their plates. Lance’s musical interests, occasional work for Rachel on Rath Veris, so many planets they have yet to visit, and a few left to save. Shiro and Curtis had recently decided to adopt a baby girl, and Pidge is always sending them to the far reaches of the universe to retrieve tech for her. They have a lot going on, outside of each other. 

 

It’s a few hours later, when everyone else has drifted off to bed, and Keith and Lance share a chair and look out at the stars. Keith sighs and presses his face into Lance’s hair. 

 

“You think she’s happy for us?” Lance asked mindlessly. He’s busy fiddling with the hem of Keith’s shirt. 

 

“I don’t know.” Keith admitted. “I’m sure there’s a lot of eye-rolling involved.”

 

Lance snorted. “Just like everyone else. Red is definitely rolling his eyes at us too.”

 

“Where do you think they went?” Keith asks. “The Lions.” 

 

“Somewhere that they’re needed, I suppose. Somewhere they can help.” 

 

“You think they know where to go just like that?”

 

“Maybe it’s just the magic of them.” Lance suggested. “I mean, we’re only the second generation of Paladins. We don’t know much about the Lions. Even Alfor didn’t know much. Maybe they just appear when they’re needed.” 

 

Keith sighed. “Seems a like a fairy tale.” 

 

“Well, I think we deserve fairy tale.” Lance shrugged. “Maybe someday, hopefully in a far away future, they’ll resurface. Blue will call out to the next Red Paladin, and - “

 

“Why doesn’t Blue call out to her own paladin?” Keith asked with a wry smile. 

 

“Because Blue and Red are soul mates.” Lance entwined their fingers. “Because Blue needs Red to show him he’s capable. And worthy. And because without Blue, Red would never get off the ground.” 

 

Keith closed his eyes. 

 

“Anyway, the Blue Paladin will find all the paladins, and the Red Paladin will lead them to Blue. And they’ll have all kinds of adventures, and save the universe together.” 

 

“You make it sound so easy.” 

 

“It won’t be. It’ll be so hard. And there will be a lot of bad times. But there will be good times, too. They’ll find reasons to laugh. They’ll comfort each other. Maybe even fall in love.”

 

“I thought Red and Blue were soul mates. Doesn’t that mean they’re in love?”

 

“Soul mates means they’re bound. Two halves of the same whole. Compliments. It doesn’t have to mean love.”

 

Keith smiled slightly. “You’re saying I’d be stuck with you even if I wasn’t getting laid?”

 

Lance snorted. “As if my beauty and winning personality isn’t enough to make anyone love me.” He twisted his head to look at Keith. “I do love you, though. Soul mates or not.” 

 

“I love you.” Keith promised, letting their foreheads rest together. “I’m not going to leave you behind.” 

 

“Good.” Lance whispered. “I wouldn’t let you, anway.” 

 

Morning two hundred and seventy-seven they would wake up with sore necks from cramming themselves into the chair, washed in the beautiful sunrise behind Allura. It was just as perfect as all the ones before it, and all the ones that would come. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's done! 
> 
> I'm sorry I couldn't do more. I think I sort of said everything I had to say with this one. And I think Keith needed a chance to heal just as much as Lance did. 
> 
> But, anyway, thank you everyone for reading. Thank you for your comments, and your love and support. I hope to see you all soon!


End file.
